UPDATE: A Kickstarter representative provided the following comment on Mansion Lord and the questions I outlined in the article below:
Thanks for reaching out. It's our policy to not discuss issues with individual projects. On a general level there's a lot of info about creator accountability in our FAQ.
And we have suggestions for how to approach backing projects, and our role in keeping Kickstarter safe, on our Trust & Safety page.
There and elsewhere we try to be very clear about the fact that there is always risk involved in backing a Kickstarter project. But we believe the track record of our creators shows that the risk is worth taking.
It's worth noting that new backers can sign up and pledge without visiting either of the pages mentioned, though the "payment" page does include links to them in the sidebar.
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Over the last few months we've been talking a lot about the potentials and risks of crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter here at Giant Bomb. While the ability for independent creators to find fans willing to help them fund dream projects is impressive (and even occasionally heart warming), we've also had a lot of questions about the stability of and safety of crowdfunding. You know, we've asked hypothetical questions like: "Hey, what happens if someone raises, let's say, over $30,000 from backers and then vanishes?" Well, as Jason Schreier over at Kotaku reveals, it turns out that's not really a hypothetical question at all.
In December of 2013, Austin-based developer Golgom Games raised $30,788 for their game, Mansion Lord, which would ostensibly combine business simulation, tactical RPG, and murder mystery. In January 2014, Golgom opened up post-Kickstarter crowdfunding via Paypal, and then the studio failed to produce another campaign update until May 2014. From May until August, there were fairly regular updates that explained different game mechanics and systems. On August 11, one final update announced that PayPal donations would be accepted until August 18, and that was the last communication received from Golgom. The studio never delivered the playable Alpha they'd promised during the campaign and no gameplay footage ever materialized.
I have so many questions about this. How much additional money did Golgom raise through PayPal donations? Some updates are signed by "The Team at Golgom Games," but no specific names are ever given anywhere, so who was actually responsible for the Kickstarter? Was a game ever in development, or is the whole thing an elaborate scam? If so, what was running through the campaign creator's mind when they read comments like "This is everything I've ever wanted" and "Please take as much time as you need..." from the people whose money they'd taken? If it wasn't just a scam, then what went wrong? Was it a matter of scoping? Was there unexpected cost? What can we learn from this?
As many questions as I have, fans who actually backed Mansion Lord with their money must have even more. The most depressing thing about all of this is that Golgom Games vanished over a year ago, and the story is only just breaking now. It really demonstrates how vulnerable backers are, especially those who support small projects like this that fly under the radar.
It also looks as if Kickstarter hasn't been much help to the fans who funded the game. Schreier quotes one backer as saying “We have tried contacting Kickstarter but were basically told 'tough luck it’s for you and the creator to work out', but they have given us no way to reach them.” As far as I can tell, this is exactly in line with Kickstarter's terms of service. In section 4 of the TOS, Kickstarter outlines the contractual relationship between campaign creator and backers (and explicitly notes that Kickstarter itself is not part of that contact). If a creator can't complete the project, they "must make every reasonable effort to find another way of bringing the project to the best possible conclusion for the backers." And if they can't? Then "they may be subject to legal action by backers." While I can imagine Kickstarter hopping in on a case-by-case basis to offer additional support, the policy as written leaves backers out to dry.
This has been one of my largest concerns with Kickstarter from day one. Looking over the Mansion Lord campaign page, there's nothing here that gives a backer any way to know what actual people are involved in running the campaign. Does Kickstarter have accurate information about the campaign creators internally? How does Kickstarter vet potential campaigns creators? Are there any mechanisms in place for "checking in" on campaigns that have been successfully backed but which miss the deadlines promised?
As always, these issues reflect much larger considerations about how businesses and markets are operated and regulated. I know that there is a pretty vocal contingent that thinks that cases like this are just another example of "buyer beware," and that companies can't be forced to intervene. But I'm not even calling for government intervention here, I'd just like Kickstarter to take a more active role in protecting its users before a case just like this happens again. Because it likely will, and next time it may happen with even more money on the line. Maybe now that Kickstarter is a "Public Benefits Corporation" there will be added pressure to address situations like this. And if they don't, then we get to ask pointed questions like "Which 'public' is benefiting here, exactly?"
I've reached out to Kickstarter for comment and will update this story if we receive a response.