The creative director of the upcoming horror / shooter game contempt, Ljubomir Peklar, apologized after an update he made for Kickstarter backers last week went horribly wrong.
In a statement posted to fans on November 6, allegedly about the team’s decision to postpone the HR Giger-inspired game, Peklar ends up writing 15 paragraphs that differ from perfectly understandable explanations of the problems inherent in developing independent games , to impromptu phone calls for unfortunate backers, simply asking for refunds for the game.
I don’t think the post which you can read in full here, is it bad! The vast majority of it is devoted to honest and serious explanations as to why the game has been postponed to 2022. He explains that they don’t have the bandwidth to post trailers and updates that would divert their attention from working on the actual game. and also touches on the idea of ”development hell” and how its inexperience led to mistakes and the need to rework large parts of the game (normal game development stuff again!):
Evolutionary hell is a term that is often tossed around. It should be used on projects that have changed their core idea or scope in the middle of development and cannot adapt. For the most part, this does not apply to our products. A lot of mistakes have been made in our case and will make more in the future, but it’s a normal process for a new, inexperienced team. Everything that was done up to mid-2018 has been revised, 90% of it completely scrapped. It’s about making it what we want and not releasing it just because we gave it an arbitrary release date. If it’s not done, it’s not done. Why would people want to play something that the developers think it still doesn’t meet the requirements?
While Peklar’s tone is a bit distant across the board, most of the update reads like the frustration of someone just working hard on their game. Until the end:
For the record, yes, the game slipped into 2022 and we will have official confirmation of the delay on December 10th. It was supposed to be announced in October, but circumstances beyond our control have postponed it. If it turns out that it is not our will or someone else’s will, then don’t be too bothered about it.
And finally, some friendly advice: If a lack of communication is so annoying, just ask for a refund and you’re done. It’s just a game. You can play it when it’s out if you’re still interested.
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That did not go down well. The comments below the post quickly filled with supporters who accepted Peklar’s offer and asked for refunds. Here are some examples:
Over a year without any update and then this “stop bothering us!” Post?
And your CEO’s answer is, “Sorry, wait 3 days and I’ll consider answering”?
I want a refund.
To match the tone of the update … I’m expecting a full refund today.
I would like a refund, please. This post was completely wrong. I stand behind it not only because of the game, but also because of the people. If you don’t take responsibility and put all these BS on the consumer, then I’ll take my money elsewhere
And they just went on and on and on. Given a scenario where the development team was losing money to the Kickstarter update, Peklar lost published a follow-up on November 7thin which he “takes full responsibility for the latest update” and admits, “it was clear that the hostile tone in which it was written should not be how we, people who help us, should express ideas or plans “.
Hello everyone,
My name is Ljubomir Peklar and I am the CEO of Ebb Software and also the creative director of the game. I take full responsibility for the last update you received from our KS yesterday. I read through the draft update quickly and at random, and I consented to it in all wisdom. Rereading it, it became clear that the hostile tone in which it was written should not be how we, people who help us, should express ideas or plans. We may be tired, confused, and frustrated by our own ineptitude, but there is no reason to hit you. I apologize personally for that. I’ll do my best to keep the breakout from happening again.
We will provide an appropriate update on any concerns raised on Monday.
Thanks very much.
As I said, I don’t think the original post is that bad! But the backers also had a very basic point: spending a full year with no updates isn’t a good look for a campaign, and no matter how good they can say they are doing behind the scenes, those who stand out from Money for a project should be expected some Kind of update every now and then that shows how things are going.
Hopefully both sides have learned a thing or two about the other and they can all just get along until the game comes out because what has been shown so far looks pretty darn cool:
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