Broken promise: Double Fine's 'Broken Age' Kickstarter mess

"The world of video game design is a mysterious one," Double Fine's Kickstarter pitch reads. "What really happens behind the closed doors of a development studio is often unknown, unappreciated or misunderstood."

Those words were written around February 2012, ahead of the longtime adventure game developer's Kickstarter campaign launch in order to introduce its latest effort to the world. The project required $400,000, Double Fine's Tim Schafer said -- a goal eventually shattered by more than $3 million in pledges -- and would unfold "over a six-to-eight-month period." A "small team" led by Schafer promised to create a point-and-click adventure game in the vein of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion. That game, first known as "Double Fine Adventure," is now Broken Age -- a fitting title considering what came next.

Last evening, Schafer took to the Kickstarter backer page to explain what's going on with Broken Age (now well beyond the "six-to-eight-month period" originally promised): "I designed too much game," he said. That means it's not ready, in case that isn't clear. Moreover, a half-done version of the game -- pared down from its original scope -- will launch on Steam's "Early Access" section long before the full game's planned launch, and long before Kickstarter backers will play what they paid for, in order to fund the final half.

Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Software, HD

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