Saw on NeoGaf. Original thread announcing the end of development is here: http://www.townsgame.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=11480

The game was released on steam before greenlight was a thing, in alpha state and apparently still has quite a few unfinished features. Well due to sales being low, work on it is being discontinued. There is some talk of a sequel, which I can't imagine going over well at all after this game is being left high and dry.

Aside from the Earlh 2066 debacle (which Valve has - admirably - responded to by pulling it) and the Ugly Baby scenario (which has been in pre-release since 2010), this highlights the fundamental problem with Early Access/alphafunding, namely that there is no accountability, no sense of commitment towards the customers and no incentive for completion.

I honestly can't see Early Access continuing in its current form. If it's going to continue thriving, then I would imagine that Valve (and Desura) will have to implement certain checks and controls regarding quality, progress, deadlines and customer protection. As it stands, being able to charge money for inherently defective products with impunity is simply a very bad idea.

Gotta love the 'good news' part.

step 1: abandon game due to lack of sales.
step 2: mention a sequel and call it good news.
step 3: ???
step 4: profit!

That's just bloody unacceptable, you can't just "drop" the game in alpha due to low sales, you made a contract with the people who pre-purchased the game that you would finish it. This guy is a cunt, if he had any integrity he would do what it takes to finish the game, that includes working a day job and working on it part-time, using that money to pay contractors to help him, etc.

One of the differences between the devs throwing their games on Early Access to those who come up on Kickstarter --- at least u get the impression the KS dev's actually give a crap about the games they are developing ......
Reading it again, sounds like the devs are only in it for the money. No money, no work, no development. wow..bad.

What a joke!
How the fuck do they expect anyone in their right mind to pay for a sequel? The audacity of announcing the sequel as a "good news" is unbelievable...

Pacta sunt servanda, ffs.

In a way this is even reasonable. It shows that demand for this game is quite low, so why making it at all. The only problem is that those having bought the alpha probably didn't know of the severe situation and had good faith in them and are kind of taking a loss now. I wish there would be kind of an insurance for such cases.

And working on a sequel even if the actual game doesn't sell well? Doesn't sound like the best idea. And nobody will ever buy at them before release again.

Ok that's it. From now on I won't do complicated explanations anymore as to why alpha access does more harm than good, I will just say "remember townsgame" like a grumpy old man.

Edit : Making a sequel to an unfinished joke, that's promising :-/

Don't Pre-Order/Kickstarter/Alpha/Greenlight if you are going to be upset if the game isn't released (or is no good). Such options should only be for people who are willing to take risks.

There is always going to be a risk that the devs will not finish the game for some reason and you will not get what you thought you were buying.

Incidentally, I was just looking through my kickstarters, I have backed 12, only 3 have been released which doesn't bother me. Of the unreleased only "Hero-U from the Quest for Glory people" looks like it may not get done, but that is fine, I just wanted to give those people some more money :)

If everyone actually realised this simple truth, the whole concept of KS/alphafunding would come tumbling down. The number of people backing such projects that simply want to provide altruistic patronage is miniscule relative to the larger number of backers who simply see it as a pre-order and think they are protected by way of an agreement.

It's typical gamer thinking really - blind trust that the industry can be trusted because they are somehow protected as consumers.

People should just stop paying for these games altogether. Either give us a complete game or nothing!

Indeed, looking at my KS backer history is kind of depressing. Several of the projects seem to still be under development, but no updates in quite a while.

But, others I've gotten things that were much nicer than what I was promised, so there you go.

I've personally stopped backing projects because it's gotten rather ridiculous. All the projects that get funded then seem to "discover" that they're on the hook for about 25% of the take in terms of taxes and fees.
Yeah, I've started doing that. early on I was OK financing people's dreams, but I've had too many games that weren't finished where the developer should have been more honest about where they were in production.

If they can't be arsed to tell us what's going on, then I don't want to be giving any money. It's a shame that you don't know that until it's too late.

I would ask money for playing an incomplete and full of bugs game. Yeah, that's right, I wouldn't do it for free.

And some people are paying for this? Ha!