JunkerWoland
Member
The below quoted text was posted by a representative of 505 Games (Bloodstained's publisher) in the game’s official forums, as a response to a thread related to demands for refunds due to the Linux & Mac platform cancellations.
As of late, this is some of the most transparent information released on the game and seemed worth posting.
My quick takeaways: the Kickstarter money has been spent (reason given for no refunds); Bloodstained is still releasing in 2019, with a date coming “soon;” and while nearing completion, it still sounds like a decent amount of work is still needed on the game. I expect Bloodstained will go through the spring/summer convention season as a means of added promotion and hit retail in the second half of 2019, around October or November.
Direct Link to Forum Post:
As of late, this is some of the most transparent information released on the game and seemed worth posting.
My quick takeaways: the Kickstarter money has been spent (reason given for no refunds); Bloodstained is still releasing in 2019, with a date coming “soon;” and while nearing completion, it still sounds like a decent amount of work is still needed on the game. I expect Bloodstained will go through the spring/summer convention season as a means of added promotion and hit retail in the second half of 2019, around October or November.
Direct Link to Forum Post:
Hi there. Apologies for the delay in getting back to you.
The main questions are ‘why no native support for Mac/Linux’ and ‘why no refund’.
The initial Kickstarter goals and platforms were chosen back in 2015, long before the first coder, artist or level designer was hired for the project. Things can change over time, but is had been our intention throughout development to provide native support for Mac and Linux.
Unfortunately, as we began platform compatibility work, we ran into difficulties with the ports that we did not anticipate. The developer time and resources needed to address these issues would have to be taken from other areas of the game.
As we look at the overall development of the project, we have to weigh the merits of putting time and money into each part of the game and make some difficult choices. This is one of those difficult choices, but we expect it to be the last.
While we are disappointed that we will not be able to provide native versions of the game for Mac and Linux users, we think that the PC version of the game will be playable on Mac and Linux using external tools.
As to the refund question, refunds for Kickstarter projects come out of the pool of funds initially raised by backers. As per the KS terms of use, if an element of a project cannot be completed and there are funds remaining, a refund should be offered. In this instance, the initial funding for the project has been expended on development. Our current progress towards launch is due to additional funding from the publisher, 505 Games.
As per the Kickstarter Terms of Use (https://www.kickstarter.com/terms-of-use#section4), we are working to complete the project in the most satisfactory way possible. We will continue to make regular project updates on Kickstarter and keep the community appraised of where we are in development. I believe the extensive work we have shown via Curse of the Moon and the backer beta are indicative that we are working hard to deliver the game.
To answer some specific questions:
Is DICO still working on the project: Yes.
Will the game come out in 2019? Yes.
When in 2019? We will be announcing a release date soon.
Will more crowdfunding be needed?: No.
How much of the game is done (levels/art/models/etc)? Assets, in-game systems (i.e crafting, inventory, etc.) and the levels/environments are nearly complete. Basically, all of the elements of the core game are there. We are working to populate and tweak the levels. We are also working on platform compatibility, playtesting and of course smashing bugs.
Thanks for your patience as we work towards launch. We apologize for disappointing our fans on Mac and Linux.