Neal Stephenson's crowdfunded game finally canceled
![](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/G3nve4rxG05kXv9KDh7n0A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTM2NA--/https://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/46a4b08a964f470927cc5139515c657d/200783655/clang-cancelled-2014-09-19-01.jpg)
After a year of development and another year on life support, Clang -- the sword-fighting game from science fiction writer Neal Stephenson and Subutai games -- is finally dead. Thing started off well enough after it topped its $500,000 crowdfunding goal on Kickstarter and an early beta was released to Steam. But a year later the Kickstarter cash ran out and Stephenson, reduced to working part-time on the project, said that the prototype "wasn't very fun to play." With no more cash to improve it, Clang has now been terminated, though Kickstarter investors can receive a refund on request. Stephenson accepted part of the blame in the final update post, adding that the story of the failure could fill a book. In fact, he did write a short book about it, which may eventually get published -- we imagine that would be far more interesting than the game itself.
[Image credit: Subutai Corp.]