There’s always a level of risk involved with supporting unfinished games on Steam Early Access or through crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The developer doesn’t have to deliver anything, but if the concept sounds interesting enough — like an open-world survival game where you can ride a Carnotaurus, for example — some folks are more than willing to take that risk.
Most of the time, everything turns out okay and we get what we paid for. Then a story like this tries to ruin it for everyone.
Conceptually, The Stomping Land was exciting enough to motivate over 4,400 people to donate $114,000 in a Kickstarter campaign created by its lead developer, Alex Fundora. This past May, the game arrived on Steam Early Access, alongside the similarly themed survival horror game The Forest. Unlike The Forest, which has seen constant support from its developer since its arrival on Steam, The Stomping Land hasn’t seen an update since June.
After months of outcries from frustrated fans who are upset with a developer that’s been bizarrely uncommunicative and, for some unspecified reason, is either unwilling or unable to continue supporting its game, Valve has decided to take action. You can still find it on Steam, but the option to purchase it has since been removed.
It’s an unfortunate situation for everyone, except maybe for Fundora, who took home $114,000 and a lot more from everyone who spent $25 on it. It’s also likely to remain unresolved until the developer finally speaks up or Valve decides to start offering refunds.
