Wildman Kickstarter canceled, developer to focus on keeping Gas Powered Games running

“At this point, it makes sense for us to focus our attention on other ways to keep Gas Powered Games running,” reads an update from the company. “Unfortunately, we are unable to share any specifics in public. When we have news to share, we will be posting it on our site.”

The Chris Taylor-led Gas Powered Games had just four days left to go on its Wildman Kickstarter, but was more than $590,000 short of its $1.1 million goal. More than 9,300 backers had committed to $504,120 in donations toward Wildman’s development before the developer pulled the plug.

Gas Powered (Supreme Commander, Dungeon Siege) announced Wildman and its intentions to fund the game through Kickstarter in January. Wildman was pitched as a blend of action, role-playing and strategy, a “spiritual successor to our classic PC game Dungeon Siege, with a twist.”

Days after the game’s official reveal, Gas Powered Games suffered substantial layoffs, prompting CEO and game designer Chris Taylor to reconsider the fundraising drive as Kickstarter funding became “about saving a company and [funding] the game ... a distant second.”

“I’m really not happy that too many people are pledging not because they like the game, but because they feel sorry for us,” Taylor wrote at the time. “That’s not what making games is about!! I feel terrible about that. I want people to support it because they like the idea. Otherwise it’s not a true process. If it’s the wrong game at the wrong time, then we need to be sent packing.”

In an update posted to the Wildman Kickstarter page, the developer writes it is “profoundly grateful to those of you who backed this project and Gas Powered Games. Your passion and hard work put us in a position to write this exciting new chapter in the history of GPG.”