Indie Studio “Devastated” After Fake Pledge Derails Kickstarter Campaign

Indie developer 2Awesome Studios was “devastated” after learning that a campaign-rescuing Kickstarter contribution was, in fact, fraudulent.

Sometimes you have dreams bigger than your wallet. When that happens, many simply let their dreams fade until nothing’s left but the regrets of unfulfilled potential. In recent years however, some have started turning to the internet, hoping to use sites like Kickstarter to sell others on their ideas and gain the financial support they need to make them a reality. For those brave individuals, there’s nothing better than that moment when they cross the finish line and reach their funding goal. There’s nothing worse, in turn, than someone taking that moment and turning it into fodder for a cruel joke.

Sadly, that’s exactly what happened yesterday to the folks at 2Awesome Studio. Entering the closing hours of the Kickstarter for its scrolling shooter Dimension Drive, the studio found itself several thousand Euros away from its goal. Then, out nowhere of, a backer named Jonathan dropped what appeared to be a generosity bomb; a €7,000 contribution that put them within spitting distance of success.

It wound up being too good to be true, however. Shortly after reaching their funding goal, Kickstarter contacted the developers to inform them that that large contribution had, in fact, been fraudulent. The €7,000 were removed from their total, leaving Dimension Drive again without funding. The team was, understandably, upset. “Don’t know what to do now,” they wrote in a Tweet. “Mentally devastated.”

As hard as this has to have been however, the news might not be all bad. Following the revelation of the trick played on them, 2Awesome Studios has received an outpouring of support from gamers who are similarly shocked that someone would do something so nasty. Many of the studio’s sympathizers, in turn, have promised to contribute funds should 2Awesome decide to try and crowdfund Dimension Drive again. Granted, that doesn’t change what happened, but hopefully it could be the foundation of a silver lining for these developers.

Source: Twitter