Wallet flush with cash? Can’t think of anything fun to buy? Why not light your money on fire by backing FNTASTIC and their attempt to be relevant (or trusted, or solvent) again!
To quote GamesRadar+:
Fntastic, the studio behind the failed extraction shooter that was supposed to be an MMO and ultimately tanked the whole studio, has relaunched as Fntastic 2.0 with a “plan for recovery” that includes a new crowdfunded co-op “escape game”.
If you somehow (I have no idea how, but somehow) missed out on that entire rollercoaster clusterfuck, Dot Esports has a great breakdown of the whole cluster. The crescendo included the game going “live” for four days before it was pulled, buyers were refunded, and the studio was shuttered. They’re back with a Kickstarter campaign to ask for your cash, forgiveness, and support. If you really want to be a glutton for punishment, download their “Plan For Recovery” PDF. While I refuse to download it, GamesRadar+ comes to the rescue again by summarizing some key points.
(My summary would have probably been a wanking gif.)
I desperately hope their shit isn’t tolerated a second time – though, of course, some morons have already donated- but it made me think of all the times this has happened with other games. Games with smaller footprints and less spotlighting. Shocking no one, I’m sure, but this isn’t the only cash grab happening right now. Let’s look at some of the other messes asking for your hard-earned dollars.
Patterns Everywhere
Neojac Entertainment Inc:
- 2013: Neo’s Land – A high-fantasy MMORPG expected to launch in 2014, developed with NeoJac’s proprietary server engine, Atavism Online, and integrated with the Unity 3D engine. They promised a lot, including player-created assets and a voxel editor, but it ended up in the dustbin. They even had a failed Kickstarter.
- 2013: Islands of War – Another project that never saw the light of day, though it still has a functioning website.
- 2017: Arcfall – MMO that entered Early Access on Steam on May 16, 2017. Updates were frequent at first but slowed down after 2019. They announced a move to Unreal Engine in 2021 and mentioned working on Dead Reach, another survival multiplayer game, but the updates remained sparse.
- 2023: Junk Survivor was released in April, quickly followed by Athos in October. At this point, they were still telling players that other titles were being ported to UE5.
- 2024: They claim to have received Prototype funding from Canada Media Fund for an upcoming new title, Time Leaper. (At the time, I did a cursory look through the CMF site and list of projects and did not see Neojac.) Another new title, Frontier Legends, has also appeared on their development page on Steam.
Tbjbu2
- Tbjbu2’s superpower seems to be taking concepts and ideas from existing popular games, making minimal changes- or effort- and releasing three times as fast.
- Karagon is a buggy ARK wannabe that blazed from demo to EA to full release at warp speed.
- Grand Emprise completely fucking lucked out by having the trailer shown by one of the large media outlets for absolutely no reason except the fact that UE5 lets anyone make pretty-looking shit with minimum effort. I’m pretty sure that’s why it was Mostly Positive, though you can see by the detailed negative reviews (mostly calling it a buggy asset-filled piece of junk) that it isn’t the best. Also! The developer is making Grand Emprise 2, which is pissing off folks that wonder why that content wasn’t included in the original title since it’s so sparse.
- Alight:Lunar Survival would have most likely been similar to the other titles this developer has released had they not canceled the game shortly after announcing it would release early.
- Chocolate Factory is a riff on Satisfactory.
- And two upcoming titles – one to take advantage of the creature craze ( Pet Lands ) and one (World Crafter TD) to capitalize on the love of Planet Crafter.
Wild Alone 21/ RePatrick21
- I want to start with a tiny tip for when you’d like to travel virtually to screw people out of their gaming funds while keeping a low profile. Maybe start with changing names a touch more efficiently.
- Afterinfection showed the writing on the wall fairly quickly: heavy on assets, light (or absent) on ideas and content, and a reliance on a large gaming community since they made it multiplayer with PvP.
- While that was failing, the developer swapped attention- Discord servers- to focus on Wild Alone, an ARK clone. (While this title died super quickly, I do want to say that I blame a pair of small-time creators – eager for free keys- that fluffed up their fledgling communities and praised the game, even while the writing was on the wall.)
I could go on and on.
Unfortunately.
Why Does This Happen?
We know why they do it, for the most part. Money plays a significant role. For some, it could be hype, the notoriety and rush of being known – I’ve been in small game Discords where a definite fanbase is developing. Perhaps, for a small handful, there’s no actual malice. It’s like the kid giving you the priceless art project that you chuck on the fridge: their view of what they produced is far from reality.
As to why gamers fall for it, who knows? The promise of something epic, the chance to be on the ground floor of the next 7D2D or Valheim – especially if you’re a creator. It could be a sunk-cost fallacy if it were something you backed up from Kickstarter. (Though that hasn’t saved Dead Matter, really…)
Maybe it’s just as simple as (mistaken) hope.
What Can We Do?
I often wonder why and how these developers can get away with this. A good chunk of the blame, I’d say, lies with Steam. They’re so interested in playing grab ass and making money that players are frequently subjected to abandoned titles, blatant scams, and worse. Steam needs to do better: better accountability tools, changes to their review and forum system, reviving and adequately using their Curator program, and more. (Also, hire some more fucking staff.)
Creators must take responsibility for their communities’ and platforms’ strength and reach. Don’t bend over with praise to ensure the free gamekey train stays on track. There are tons of aspiring developers and thousands of upcoming games. You’ll get keys. But don’t you owe it to your community to truthfully tell them that they should give a title a pass or let a title bake a while longer before spending cash on it? Media websites dedicated to games- like IGN and PCGamer- have to stop spotlighting stupid shit without asking themselves: “Hey, is there any actual reason we need to highlight this game as the second coming of SURVIVAL and the MOST AMAZING THING EVER when there’s jack shit except for a flashy trailer?”
I truly believe…that, overall, the current Steam review system is a piece of shit. It’s too filled with spam, useless ratings, and nonsensical feedback. But the forums are sometimes exactly what you need in this situation. If you’re contemplating a purchase – check the forums. Browse the titles of posts in the general forums and examine the bug report section and developer engagement. Check the frequency of updates and patches. You’ll save yourself from lighting your wallet on fire at the cost of a few minutes. I’m not saying to avoid Early Access games because frankly – they’re the backbone of the Survival genre. But be an intentional and informed player.
And if you’re too lazy to check forums, then at least follow my Curator page—I’ll try to help you avoid another half-baked scam.
