According to a recent update by developer SparkWare, FRAMED will be cancelled if the team cannot find a writer. The loss of a few key team members is being credited for this recent debacle, but after reviewing the multitude of comments and campaigns that were created to help bring it to life, I’ve come to the conclusion that FRAMED may have been doomed from the start.

Time for some detective work!

Time for some detective work!

First of all, a quick perusal of the comments section over on FRAMED’s Steam Greenlight page shows would-be players calling out the developers for using RPG Maker as their engine of choice. Many of these comments state that perhaps GameJolt would have been a better platform for an RPG Maker title as opposed to Steam Greenlight. After getting a look at the game’s trailer, I would be inclined to agree with them.

Further, getting a game on Steam Greenlight requires funds which was the justification provided for the small $158.25 Kickstarter goal. The team was able to surpass this goal by raising $312.54 total, but no amount of money raised can resolve internal strife, which brings me to my final point.

Better grab one for this last bit of knowledge.

Better grab one for this last bit of knowledge.

Not much is known about developer SparkWare, other than that they’re a UK-based development team and that this is not only their first outing on Kickstarter, but also their very first game.

Some commenters have speculated that SparkWare seems to be comprised of young, naive developers, but regardless of their age or experience, FRAMED couldn’t have gone much worse than it has, and we can only hope that their next venture is a little more organized.

About the Author

Conrad Crisman

Conrad is an industry vet who's approximately 25% Internet famous. Starting with the NES Action Set and local arcades circa 1988, he has a soft spot for indie games and old school platformers. He even built his own arcade cabinet once and shamelessly bragged about it to his buddy.

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