Several months after raising nearly $100,000 on Indiegogo for its fantasy action RPG game Hero’s Song, John Smedley’s new studio Pixelmage announced it was officially pulling the plug on the project and ceasing all operations. Smedley and his team originally set out to raise $800,000 on Kickstarter for Hero’s Song before making the decision to move the campaign to Indiegogo. Hero’s Song is described an as open world rogue-like fantasy game done in 2D pixel style. The full description reads:
“Create epic fantasy worlds uniquely shaped by your choices, the power of the gods, and thousands of years of history. Become a legendary hero in a dangerous and mysterious world of magic and monsters. Explore endless dungeons and ancient cities in long forgotten lands in search of knowledge, treasure, and the power of the gods!”
The game’s crew went with the flexible funding option on the global crowdfunding platform and took home $100,000. Now, Pixelmage is shutting down everything, including the game. It was revealed on the studio’s website:
“It’s with a heavy heart that I have to report that Pixelmage Games is going to be shutting down and we have ceased development on Hero’s Song. For the last year, our team has worked tirelessly to make the game we’ve dreamed about making, and with your support, and the support of our investors, we were able to get the game into Early Access. Unfortunately sales fell short of what we needed to continue development. We knew going in that most startups don’t make it, and as an indie game studio we hoped we would be the exception to that rule, but as it turned out we weren’t.”
The Pixelmage team noted that Indiegogo customers need to email them (refunds@pixelmagegames.com) with their names and information to receive a refund. Those who purchased through Steam may claim their refund through the normal Steam refund process. They then added:
“Thank you for all the support you showed us. We’re sorry things worked out the way they did, but we feel strongly that we gave it our all and we’re proud of how far we came with the game. The fact that we weren’t able to finish the game is painful, but the journey of making Hero’s Song has been a great experience for us and we’re just sorry we couldn’t take it all the way.”
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