The Great Kickstarter Swindle: Tim Schafer is NOT scaming you.

Would you give money to this man?

So one of the greatest Kickstarter success stories is hitting the rocks. Double Fine's "Broken Age" is scraping the bottom of its budget after biting off more than it could chew as a company. Instead of releasing the whole game as promised less from a year from now, its releasing the first half this January on Steam with the second half to follow as a free update in the future. 

Now I didn't back Broken Age, but if I was someone who dropped $500 bucks on the sucker, I'd be worried. Any deviation from the plan could be another limb in a financial game of hangman. I understand how it could feel that way, but that's not what's happening. This is not Duke Nukem Forever, this is a tiny bump in the road.

You know how when
the first time a game appears at E3 there is hardly ever a release date stamped on the end of the trailer? This is why. Things change, no one can see the future, not even Tim (or Majesco, zing!). The original plan was for a game that cost $400,000...they got 3.3 million. To me, this set back looks like a studio that wanted to put every dollar they had up on the screen and went just a bit too far. When they did, they turned around and apologized immediately. They did not have to do that.

So half of the game needs to go on Steam to fund the rest. Its certainly not ideal, but again, its miles away from a death kneel. Project delays are endemic to all investments, the vast majority of which the press isn't even aware of. So yeah, this sucks. But remember, you weren't buying the game. You were buying the possibility of a game. That's why you gave money to Kickstarter, not to Steam. That's what being a patron is all about, there's a reason not everyone does it. There's always that chance it falls to pieces.

So at the end of the day, isn't Shafer's over ambition what we love most about him in the first place? Give it time people, I have a feeling it'll be worth the wait.