Last year I helped fund a Kickstarter for a game called Star Command a mobile game for iOS and Android that’s very basically a Sims meets Star Trek type game. They were a new developer but they were incredibly excited and used Kickstarter to help fund the game. With the initial Kickstarter they had an estimated release date of holiday 2011.
A few months after the initial Kickstarter they started another one. This second Kickstarter would be for a PC and Mac version of the game that was wildly wanted after people saw the mobile game. In addition the stretch goals brought full modding support to the game. So Warballoon Games went from a mobile game to a mobile and PC game with full modding support. Easier said than done. And unlike many triple-a developers Warballoon Games is not willing to sacrifice any part of the game for these new features and I commend them for that. The original release date which was already well past was changed to late summer 2012.
The last announced release date was January 2013, and well were almost in March but they continue to work on the game and the latest report from them was all bugs fixed and working on final ports for a hopeful release this month.
As we all know schedules and development rarely are truly set in stone. As the first rule of CyanogenMod goes, ‘Don’t ask for an ETA.’ And the second rule, ‘DON’T ASK FOR AN ETA.’ Now many people have this sense of entitlement and its not totally wrong with Kickstarter, we already paid and helped fund this game so just like a publisher we do deserve updates. However patience is a virtue.
Developers who have to use Kickstarter for their projects are usually a small group of people most likely working on their first game. You can’t always expect something to be done on time with a small group. And even with large development teams you still have delays. Grand Theft Auto V for instance just recently got delayed from a March 2013 release to September 2013 and Bioshock Infinite was delayed more times that I can remember. We obviously get upset at these delays, but we understand that the delays will most likely bring a more polished and complete title.
And that’s why for as many delays as Star Command has, I know that it will be worth it in the end. For a developer that went from an iOS/Android game to a iOS/Android/Mac/PC game with modding and cloud saving, it’s impressive that they’ve been able to do so much and still get it out, even though it might of taken an extra year.
Moral of the story is, it’s a good idea to just say, it’ll be done when it’s done.
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