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Tangiers, the surreal stealth game that went to Kickstarter for funding in July of 2013, has had a bumpy development. Originally planned for release in August 2014, the project has faced a series of financial setbacks due to the falling out of planned additional funding, and even backup funding didn’t pan out. Lead developer Alex Harvey has posted a new update to Kickstarter backers of the game, listing the challenges and setbacks that have delayed the game’s completion. It’s an emotional and apologetic post.
“It turns out that the strain and stress of working very long hours on the project daily without any real income or stability is something that causes all kinds of fun health problems, problems that can be quite disruptive against putting focus into being public facing,” wrote Harvey. “It’s been a challenge to keep myself together over the past few months, and while this isn’t an acceptable excuse by any means it’s the best I can tangibly offer. I’m deeply, deeply sorry for the consistent let downs here, but we have got some breathing room now so from here on I’m putting extra priority to forward facing work.”
Despite these setbacks Harvey and his team continue to pursue opportunities to keep the project on track – and themselves healthy enough to continue. Tangiers is near completion, but if the game were to be released too soon without additional funding, core elements would have to be stripped away, something Harvey does not want to compromise on. Despite expressing his own health-related issues due to the tough time he and his team have endured, he promises the game will be completed and released in a state they’re happy with. If funding comes through from a publisher or investor, Harvey anticipates just 5 weeks of straight development are needed to finalize all remaining components.
If funding doesn’t come in, a month-long break period will be needed to procure funds to keep the lights on. A scaled down Early Access release would follow in order to get the project out; sales will help sustain the team and continue development. This approach will only be done if the majority of backers approve of it, though.
“Ideally, that’s not a road we have to go down, but if worst comes to the worst then it’s a better option than dragging things out indefinitely or to cancelling things entirely, concluded Harvey. “Have to keep things afloat and have to keep working with what we’ve got.”
For the full backer update where Harvey details the status of the game, completed milestones, and lists upcoming gameplay streams, visit the source link. As someone quite interested in playing the game, I wish the team the best in finding additional funding.
[Source]
