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Queer-friendly cyberpunk adventure game Read Only Memories reaches funding goal in final 48 hours
Read Only Memories, a cyberpunk adventure game from the founders of the GaymerX convention, has successfully hacked its way into people's hearts as well as their wallets. The game reached its Kickstarter goal of $62,064 on December 11, and closed funding yesterday with a total of $64,378. The actual final funding tally is closer to $126,000 though, as Ouya will match the initial $62,064 goal with their own money in exchange for a period of exclusivity on the system, thanks to Read Only Memories participating in the Free the Games Fund. Read Only Memories is advertised as featuring "queer-friendly characters," according to the game's Kickstarter page, and also includes non-gender-binary options for players. In one released screenshot, a robot assistant - who also happens to be the mascot for GaymerX - asks which pronoun the player would like to be referred to with, and there's more than just "he" and "she" to choose from. The game is expected to ship for PC, Mac and Ouya in fall of next year, with Android and iOS versions planned to release six months thereafter. In the meantime, it's also up for voting on Steam Greenlight.
Rose and Time returns to Ouya following funding program changes
Indie puzzler Rose and Time returned to Ouya after the game was pulled from the store in September by its developer, Sophie Houlden. The "time-travel stealth" game was initially removed from Ouya's store during the height of the controversy surrounding the console manufacturer's Free the Games Fund, a program designed to match funds donated by crowdfunders for timed-exclusive Ouya games on Kickstarter. In her latest blog, Houlden wrote that "at the time a lot of developers besides myself were upset at how the free the games fund was going and said so." Games like Gridiron Thunder, which received $171,009 on Kickstarter thanks to a handful of suspicious backers, and the Ouya-suspended Elementary, My Dear Holmes were the center of attention for the funding program's detractors. Ouya's response to the criticism at the time was to assert that the the Free the Games Fund would not be changed, prior to being overhauled a week later. Addressing that decision, among other decisive missteps during a recent talk at the XOXO Festival in Portland, Oregon, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman said the company "did not think about all the different ways people could take advantage of that kind of program," She later added that the Ouya team "didn't have enough rules around the program and people took advantage of it out the gate. So having the best intentions isn't always best. But you have to be quick to hear the feedback no matter how painful it is and iterate and change as you go." As for Houlden's decision to bring Rose and Time back to the Ouya store, she wrote that "The Free the Games Fund was changed, none of the scam games received a single cent of the fund, the company admitted its mistakes, and was asking for yet more feedback to further improve things," concluding that she is "confident at this point that I can no longer justify keeping the game off the console."
Gridiron Thunder delayed to October 30 after dropping Ouya deal
Gridiron Thunder, the Kickstarted game that dropped out of Ouya's Free the Games Fund after weeks of controversy, has been delayed to October 30. It was originally scheduled to launch on September 30, but on September 29, developer MogoTXT updated the Kickstarter: "Because we recently chose not to participate in the Free The Games Fund, we are no longer bound by the exclusivity requirement of the program and can make Gridiron Thunder available on all Android and iOS phones and tablets, in addition to the Ouya. In order to make Gridiron Thunder fully cross-platform, we have decided to postpone the launch of the game until October 30." Gridiron Thunder raised $171,009 on Kickstarter and would have received matching funds from Ouya, had it remained in Free the Games Fund. The game raised suspicion during its campaign when backers noticed odd, large funding spikes. The average pledge per person ended at $934.48, much higher than the standard average pledge of $50.59 per person, or even that of a comparable project, $275.05 per person. When Ouya overhauled Free the Games Fund on September 18, MogoTXT announced it had voluntarily dropped out of the program, since it had raised enough money to launch on its own. "Gridiron Thunder is coming along very well and looking great," MogoTXT writes in its most recent update. "Thanks for your patience and get ready for a great game!"
Neverending Nightmares heading to PC and Ouya thanks to funding drive
Neverending Nightmares' Kickstarter project concluded with $106,722 in funding yesterday. The horror game is both inspired by games like Silent Hill 2 and Amnesia: The Dark Descent as well as developer Matt Gilgenbach's personal struggles with mental illness. It achieved its funding goals, but not without a last-minute financial mishap that momentarily put the project's success in question. The game is also the second project to achieve funding as part of Ouya's Free the Games Fund. The first, Gridiron Thunder, pulled itself from eligibility following criticism over discrepancies in its funding. Gilgenbach offered his thoughts on the program in mid-September, worrying that the controversy within the program might cause backers to lose "confidence in our project and what we are trying to do." Given the developer's crowdfunding success, they apparently did not. Neverending Nightmares is expected to launch in August 2014 on PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya.
Neverending Nightmares to hit PC, Mac, Linux, Ouya at same time
Neverending Nightmares is now slated to launch on PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya simultaneously, following changes to Ouya's Free the Games Fund program. Yesterday Ouya announced that developers contracted to receive matching funds via Free the Games Fund will be able to launch on PC platforms at the same time as Ouya, among other loophole closures. Neverending Nightmares creator Matt Gilgenbach says he never had a problem with Ouya exclusivity in theory, but it doesn't make sense in terms of Kickstarter: "I feel (and always felt) that making backers wait six months to get the game they funded was not cool. I expressed this to Ouya before our campaign launched, and they understood where I was coming from and wanted to address my concerns. While there has been some negative press surrounding the FTGF, in my own experience, Ouya has been amazing to work with. Those of you who know me personally know that I am honest to a fault and am perhaps a little too reluctant to give out praise, so that means a lot." Neverending Nightmares needs $99,000 by September 29 to fulfill its Kickstarter campaign; it currently has $43,000. We took a look at it in a video preview before the Kickstarter launched and found its Gorey-inspired, macabre art style to be rather horrifying, along with the game itself.
Ouya overhauls Free the Games Fund
Responding to the ongoing controversy surrounding Ouya's Free the Games Fund, CEO Julie Uhrman issued a statement and video discussing changes coming to the program. For starters, instead of the $50,000 funding minimum required of project creators to be eligible for the program, Uhrman said the requirement is now $10,000. Plus, for every $10,000 raised on Kickstarter by project creators, they will now need to have a minimum of 100 backers to maintain eligibility. "The program wasn't perfect, we're fixing it, and if it's still not perfect, tell us and we'll fix it again," Uhrman said. "But I think it's important to note that we're not going to pull this program. We think great games can be found by you, the gamer, who loves Ouya, who wants to see something special on it." As part of the changes coming to the program, Ouya won't demand a guaranteed six months of exclusivity for project creators anymore. Rather, for every $10,000 in rewards issued by Ouya in matching crowdfunding efforts, developers will need to agree to one month of exclusivity. Uhrman noted one exception to the rule, as developers will be able to launch simultaneously on PC. Uhrman said Gridiron Thunder developer MogoTXT has notified Ouya that it is backing out of the Free the Games Fund, as it "raised enough money on Kickstarter to launch it on their own." MogoTXT earned $171,009 from just 183 backers in its campaign, helping ignite the controversy surrounding the program. Ouya recently removed another game from the program, Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus. To get a brief summary of the Free the Games Fund's short, yet eventful life, check out our video recap.
Ouya removes family-funded Kickstarter game from Free the Games program
When Golden Axe-inspired Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus met its funding goal thanks to help from a family member and was just two days from seeing the end of its Kickstarter campaign, Ouya removed the project from its Free the Games Fund program. In an update on the project's page, SuckerFree Games developer William McDonald wrote, "If we had remained silent we very likely would have received the funds, our transparency and honesty apparently was our undoing." That transparency came from a backers-only update on the project last week, which explained how the project ultimately reached $54,067 with donations from just 180 people. McDonald states in the update that although his family and friends initially refused to offer financial support, his father spent a large retirement check to help fund Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus' three episodes, thereby making it eligible for rewards earned from Ouya's Free the Games Fund. "It appears we were thrown under the FTG bus. Ouya gets their fall guy and Grid Iron keeps their money," McDonald wrote regarding Ouya's decision, referencing Gridiron Thunder, a game that received $171,009 on Kickstarter from just 183 backers as part of Ouya's program. Due to Ouya's decision, McDonald said the team opted to cancel the Kickstarter project, noting that the developer has "no plans to develop for Ouya further." This isn't the first time Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus has received funding, as it earned $5,177 on Kickstarter back in May 2011. In an August 18 update on that project's page, McDonald notified backers of his plans to enter Ouya's funding program, and that the developer had invested over $10,000 of its own money into the project since the first Kickstarter campaign ended. We've reached out to McDonald and Ouya, and will update as we learn more. For a brief summary on the Ouya Free the Games Fund's issues so far, check out our recap video.
Recap: Ouya's Free the Games Fund so far
Ouya's Free the Games Fund, designed to reward successful Kickstarter projects with additional funding in exchange for six months of Ouya exclusivity, has suffered criticism in recent weeks. We're here to get you caught up with a convenient video recap of the events surrounding the program. In July, Ouya announced the Free the Games Fund. In late August, the first two eligible games met their funding goals: Elementary, My Dear Holmes and Gridiron Thunder. Elementary, My Dear Holmes was later suspended by Kickstarter. Gridiron Thunder was successfully funded, earning $171,009 from 183 backers. Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman responded to the Free the Games Fund controversy, noting the company would not alter the program. Indie developers criticized Uhrman's response, with Rose and Time developer Sophie Houlden opting to pull her game from Ouya's store.
'Neverending Nightmares' and the dream of Ouya's Free the Games Fund
When Matt Gilgenbach took to Kickstarter to fund his horror adventure game, Neverending Nightmares, he also opted in to Ouya's Free the Games Fund. The program, designed to offer additional funding to crowdfunders that raise at least $50,000, has drawn questions surrounding projects like Gridiron Thunder. "It would kill me if due to other projects abusing the Free the Games Fund, people lost confidence in our project and what we are trying to do," Gilgenbach told Joystiq via email. He pointed to Neverending Nightmares' relatively low average pledge amount of $24.68 as evidence for its legitimacy, which is in stark contrast to the $934.48 average by Gridiron Thunder, the game that raised $171,009 from just 183 backers. "We participated in the Free the Games Fund because we felt that the money we needed to make a really terrifying and emotionally powerful game was greater than what we could raise alone on Kickstarter," Gilgenbach continued. "The Free the Games Fund offers a significant contribution to the development budget with very developer friendly terms, so it seemed like a dream come true. I never expected any of this controversy."
Gridiron Thunder to launch September 30
Gridiron Thunder will launch September 30 on Ouya, MogoTXT CEO Andrew Won told Joystiq. The football game recently received $171,009 on Kickstarter from just 183 backers, raising questions among the crowdfunding community. Won denied any ongoing scrutiny over the project. "Kickstarter conducted a full investigation and found nothing wrong with our campaign. This is conclusive and our campaign came to a successful close last Sunday," Won said. "I've answered the same question many times and I have nothing more to add. There is nothing left to discuss." Gridiron Thunder is part of Ouya's Free the Games Fund, designed by the console manufacturer to stimulate Ouya development by matching funds raised from the Kickstarter community of at least $50,000. Developers must promise at least six months of Ouya exclusivity before receiving the full reward from the program. Gridiron Thunder was one of two games that were successfully funded as part of the program, the other being Elementary, My Dear Holmes, which was suspended by Kickstarter late last week.
Developers react to Ouya's defense of Free the Games Fund
Yesterday, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman voiced her support for the company's Free the Games Fund, noting that nothing about the program would be altered. Since then, indie developers have expressed their displeasure over Uhrman's statements. Sophie Houlden, who launched Rose and Time on Ouya in July, announced that she will be pulling the game from the Ouya store. Houlden said that after reading Uhrman's response, "it became very apparent to me that the company does not support indie developers who need the support most, and that they are incapable of ever correcting their mistakes. I'm simply no longer comfortable supporting the company." Free the Games Fund was first announced in July with the intention of encouraging Ouya development by rewarding successful Kickstarter project creators with extra funding in exchange for at least six months of Ouya exclusivity. Two eligible games came under scrutiny as they met their funding goals in late August: Elementary, My Dear Holmes and Gridiron Thunder. While Elementary was recently suspended due to suspicions over Kickstarter accounts that backed the game, Gridiron Thunder was successfully funded, bringing in $171,009 from only 183 total backers. Houlden isn't the only developer backing away from the platform. Kairo developer Richard Perrin noted via Twitter that he "had an Ouya on my desk since launch. Nearly finished porting Kairo to it. Gonna pack that away until a time when they become credible again." In the comments of Uhrman's response to the growing concerns over the program, 100 Rogues Ouya developer Wes Paugh said that "the campaigns that aren't setting off red flags are failing tragically, and that is a real shame, because some of those ideas are ones gaming would greatly benefit from." Thomas Was Alone developer Mike Bithell also criticized Ouya's response in the post's comments, saying it "isn't an acceptance of criticism, or an explanation of how clearly dodgy as hell schemes are being supported by [Ouya] publicly," but that it "reads like a press release from a console company locked into a foolish policy and using aspirational language to shift the blame, weirdly, onto its critics."
Ouya not changing Free the Games Fund: 'This response surprised us'
Ouya isn't suspending or altering Free the Games Fund, despite allegations of fraud in some of its related Kickstarter projects, founder Julie Uhrman says. "Recently, the intention behind our Free the Games Fund – to provide additional funding to crowdfunded games bound for Ouya and enable developers to make more of them – seems to have been lost," Uhrman says. "This response surprised us – we thought this was going to be great – how could it not be?" Free the Games Fund offers a pool of $1 million in matching funds to Ouya-exclusive Kickstarter projects. It's an "open" way to get games off the ground, Uhrman says – but many bystanders noticed that it's a little too open. One Free the Games Fund campaign, Elementary, My Dear Holmes, was suspended on Kickstarter following allegations that the pledges were fake. "In launching this campaign, we've been called everything from naive and foolish to crazy and idealistic," Uhrman says. "This is not the first time we've been called any of that. Maybe we're naive ... and yes we're definitely idealistic. It's gotten us this far. We believe (still) that great games from great developers can be discovered this way – by you." On Twitter, Uhrman is more concise: "No we are not changing the Free The Games Fund. We are sticking with it." Gridiron Thunder, another Free the Games Fund title under suspicion from fans, was successfully funded with $171,009 on September 8. An Ouya representative told us that the project met all guidelines and would receive the match. There are now nine games live on Kickstarter involved in Free the Games Fund and Uhrman encourages people to support them. Elementary, My Dear Holmes, doesn't make her list, of course.
Gridiron Thunder Ouya Kickstarter concludes with $171k, many questions
Gridiron Thunder's Kickstarter project ended over the weekend, earning $171,009 in its 30-day campaign. Gridiron Thunder was under suspicion when it first met its funding goal in late August, thanks to curious funding spikes witnessed by backers. To reach its goal, it received more than $10,000 apiece from a limited number of funders, as revealed by Kicktraq. It was one of two games that reached its goal as part of Ouya's Free the Games Fund, a program that rewards successful Kickstarter project creators by matching the crowdfunding results in exchange for six months of Ouya exclusivity. The game had just 183 total backers, making for a rate of $934.48 per person. In recent months, the closest any project has come to that average is Yargis, which had an average of $275.05 per backer thanks to a lone $5,000 pledge. The results of 84 projects in the past three months revealed a mean average of $50.59 pledged per person, making Gridiron Thunder a statistical anomaly. The other Ouya game in question, Elementary, My Dear Holmes, was suspended by Kickstarter on Friday after the developer addressed concerns to both Kickstarter and Amazon surrounding "suspicious accounts" that backed the project. The game's creator, Sam Chandola, said the developer "wanted to get on top of this and did not want anything to do with any of what was happening as it was an extremely negative campaign for us." Kickstarter declined to comment on the project's suspension.
Ouya Free the Games Fund project 'Elementary, My Dear Holmes' suspended by Kickstarter
The crowdfunding campaign for Elementary, My Dear Holmes was suspended by Kickstarter today. The point-and-click adventure game had already reached its $50,000 goal, earning $58,770 before its suspension, days before it was slated to end on September 13. The reasons for the project's suspension by Kickstarter are unclear, though the developer said it addressed concerns regarding "suspicious accounts" that supported the game. "When the uproar against Elementary, My Dear Holmes was brought up, we contacted Kickstarter and Amazon, asking them to investigate the accounts and take action accordingly," the game's creator Sam Chandola told backers. "We wanted to get on top of this and did not want anything to do with any of what was happening as it was an extremely negative campaign for us. Strong personal accusations were going up against us, and it was a huge drain on our time, energy and resources." Ouya announced its $1 million Free the Games Fund program in July as a means of encouraging developer support of its console by offering monetary rewards for successful Kickstarter-funded games that vow to remain Ouya-exclusive for six months. Elementary, My Dear Holmes was one of two games that reached its funding goals last week as part of the program. The other game, Gridiron Thunder, fell under scrutiny for the amount of funding it received from just 126 backers. According to Ouya, the project "successfully qualified to receive the match," and is still up on Kickstarter, sitting at $114,437 from 161 funders with 46 hours before the campaign ends.
Neverending Nightmares lands on Kickstarter, joins Ouya funding program
Neverending Nightmares is now on Kickstarter, seeking $99,000 by September 29. Created by Retro/Grade developer Matt Gilgenbach, the survival horror game is inspired by the likes of Silent Hill 2 and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and also is the result of Gilgenbach's personal struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. Neverending Nightmares is part of Ouya's Free the Games Fund, and will accordingly be Ouya-exclusive for the first six months of its release in Q3 2014. Kickstarter rewards also include DRM-free versions of the game for Windows, Mac and Linux, which will launch at a later time. Through the game and accompanying developer diaries, Gilgenbach said he hopes to "make a difference in peoples' lives. I can show them that they are not suffering alone! I can tell them that things can get better." Our video preview describes some of Neverending Nightmares' gory scenes as well as its Edward Gorey art inspiration.
First two Ouya 'Free the Games' projects meet funding goals [Update]
The first two games from Ouya's Free the Games promotion have been funded on Kickstarter. Gridiron Thunder, a football game that uses official NFL licensing, reached its $75,000 goal with 13 days left in its campaign. The other funded game, Elementary, My Dear Holmes met its $50,000 goal with 17 days left. Developed by Vancouver-based Victory Square Games, point-and-click adventure game Elementary, My Dear Holmes has players investigating mysteries not as the famous Baker Street sleuth, but as his faithful companion John Watson. Ouya's $1 million Free the Games campaign has the company matching funds for successfully Kickstarted projects that earn at least $50,000. Ouya will match up to $250,000 for an individual project, the trade-off being that each game must remain Ouya-exclusive for six months. The company said more than 40 games have been submitted for the program, and 11 campaigns are live, including that of Gridiron Thunder and Elementary, My Dear Holmes. Update: We've contacted both Ouya and Kickstarter regarding Gridiron Thunder's legitimacy, as the project's $78,259 came from just 126 backers, with some suspect funding spikes as tracked by Kicktraq. We will update as we learn more. Update #2: Ouya responded with a statement to Joystiq, saying that "based on our program's guidelines, the team behind Gridiron Thunder have successfully qualified to receive the match and we couldn't be more excited to see them bring their game along with their supportive community to Ouya."
Ouya giving $1 million to Kickstarters through Free the Games Fund
Ouya has launched its Free the Games Fund initiative, which seeks to match contributions for burgeoning Kickstarter campaigns that meet a $50,000 threshold, up to a ceiling of $250,000, from a pool of $1 million. Those seeking fund-matching through Ouya must meet submission guidelines by contacting the console manufacturer prior to initiating the Kickstarter drive, which can run anywhere after August 9, 2013 until August 10, 2014, and agree to six-month exclusivity. Eligible games will get a quarter of their cash once the Kickstarter campaign has ended, then half of the promised total once the game launches on Ouya. The remaining quarter of owed payment will be granted after that six-month exclusivity has expired. The qualifying game that raises the most cash through Kickstarter will receive an additional $100,000 on top of what Ouya has agreed to match.
