Playdek’s crowdfunded strategy RPG Unsung Story, designed by Yasumi Matsuno of Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics fame, has been put on hold.
After launching the project in January 2014, Playdek received over $660,00 in pledges from 15,824 backers, and told backers the game would release in July 2015.
Two years after reaching its $600,000 goal, the studio is now having to halt development to combat a number of setbacks that are affecting its “timeline and progress on the game,” and its “immediate future as a company.”
Since its last development update on October 20, Playdek confirmed it has lost some “key staff members” who were pushing forward with Unsung Story’s development.
As a result of those losses, Playdek now only has one internal team capable of working on a single project; a situation that’s forced the developer to re-evaluate its priorities.
“For the financial strength of the company we need to focus on a few products in the near term that have the ability to get to a retail release before Unsung Story is able to,” said Playdek in its latest Kickstarter update.
“While this is a difficult choice to make, it is one we need to do for the ongoing financial health of the company. For Unsung Story, we will explore options for outside development help, and will look to see if we are able to bring on an outside team that can assist us in furthering development.”
Although the studio is looking to bring in outside help to assist with Unsung Story’s development, Playdek admits that’s only a possibility right now. As such, the studio has altered its release timeline yet again.
“While the development goals that were spelled out in the previous update remain intact for now, the release window of those goals is affected, and at this time we do not have an update as to what the new release window for development rollout will be,” continued Playdek.
“As we pursue [a new] direction, we will refine the release timeline as soon as we are able to.”