Bad News for Hearts Under Blades

For those of you who have been following Hearts Under Blades, the team behind it has some bad news for you. Developer Leading Scientists Games posted an update earlier in the week confirming the delay of Chapter 1 into next year.

Nearly everyone on the team has been afflicted by some bit of bad news, forcing the release into question. The lead artist, who goes simply by Van, is dealing with unmentioned medical problems and won’t be able to provide any art “for the foreseeable future.” Lead writer Dustin Rice is leaving for an archeological dig of all things, and will be unable to write beyond Chapter 1 from “six months to a year.”

Meanwhile, project lead Melissa Strickbine has also been struck with medical problems and has had to take up several freelance jobs to pay for her medication. Unfortunately, she’s undertaken so much freelance work that she’s no longer able to work on Hearts Under Blades full time.

Hey, it’s an unwritten rule that all Kickstarter projects get delayed to some degree. The original goal was December 2015, so if the team follows through and the delay is only one month as stated in the update, I’d consider that pretty good.

The real concern is for the future of the game. Both the lead artist and lead writer won’t be able to work on Hearts Under Blades, and who knows how much longer Strickbine will have to focus on her freelance work. This could be one of those campaigns where nobody gets a happy ending.