Code Hero Developer Resurfaces, So Where’s That $170,954?

On December 25^th 2011 indie developer, and self proclaimed hacker mentor, Alex Peake launched the Code Hero Kickstarter campaign in hopes of raising $100,000 to create a game that would teach people how to code.  After a 60 day campaign that featured an inconsistent update schedule Peake was able to collect over $170,000. Code Hero became the most funded video game on Kickstarter up to that time. Then the game all but disappeared.

Earlier this year we covered the sad tale of what happened to Code Hero after it was funded, with Amanda French stating in part:

The last update on Kickstarter was April 3, 2014 from the above-mentioned project coordinator, who stated that she was leaving the project and all updates from then on would be up to Alex Peake. As if it isn’t heart-sinking enough that the project coordinator couldn’t even stick around a full year, Code Hero’s updates section goes dead, and stays that way.

Nothing has changed with the Code Hero Kickstarter since then, but there have been a couple bits of interesting news that are worth noting. Especially for those who backed the project.

First is an email I received:

Sent via our Contact Us page, the email purports to be from Code Hero developer Alex Peake. Since our contact form lets you type in any address you like there’s no way to verify that it’s from the real Alex Peake. The alex@primerlabs.com email address is authentic though. I responded to the email and asked about the status of Code Hero, but have yet to hear back.

The link contains meeting notes from an Oakland, California, based hacker space called Sudo Room. The notes are a bit confusing to read since they’re meant for record keeping rather than entertainment, but they do indicate that one of the attendees is someone identified as Alex Peake. During the meeting Peake brings up a number of causes he’s interested in, describes himself as being a fan of “unity as an operating system,” and even brings up Code Hero; with the notes on Peake stating in part:

“Teaches classes about games, code hero, quit job to create game, ran out of money A game can only teach so much, cutting edge will always be human teaching,”

Does Peake telling folks at a hacker space that he ran out of money signal the end of Code Hero? While it doesn’t look good for anyone looking for a refund, another bit of news could be a silver lining for the debacle. There is little to learn regarding Peake and Code Hero from subsequent Sudo Room meetings, aside from him being officially accepted as a member. There have been some updates to the Code Hero website now that it’s back up thought.

Notice that the date on the pictured update is the same as the one we referenced in our Code Hero MIA article from earlier this year; but the content is new. It appears as though Peake has started posting updates to the Code Hero site using the same old post date. It makes it a challenge to see when things have actually been updated. While the Code Hero website appears to have been receiving regular updates over the past month, the Kickstarter campaign continues to be dormant. In spite of Peake’s account showing that he’s been logging in.

Where does this leave Code Hero and the $170,954 donated by backers? In stating that “a game can only teach so much” it appears that Peake may have lost some faith in the project. That the Kickstarter money appears to be gone while Peake continues to ignore backers undermines any excitement over the games (potential) continued development.

Something tells me that the drama with Code Hero is far from over.