JetGetters – Hijack Jets Midair may have made history as Kickstarters, and crowdfunded game projects, come and go. Developer tinybuild has just cancelled the crowdfund, giving everyone who pledged their money back AND a tier reward for every one of them.
So, did tinybuild just go crazy? Nope, but something really good happened to them. They managed to snag an actual angel investor in between GDC and PAX East. tinybuild did not name said investor, but presumably they will be able to fully cover the costs of development.
To be clear, this is not the only reason the crowdfund has been cancelled. The official reason they give is that development has hit a snag, and so they would not be able to finish the game as promised. The actual tier reward all the funders get in turn is that they will all get tinybuild’s games. So far, only three of their seven games have been released, so this is a generous reward for sure.
For the record, the crowdfund actually met their goal, so this is something that hit crowdfunders after that fact.
Is it all good news? Possibly not. The game was initially being developed for PC, and stretch goals were set for PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, Steam, and Ouya. What if the investor is one of these companies? What if it’s a company like EA, who would not hesitate to sign exclusivity contracts? Will exclusivity be forthcoming for JetGetters? Some of these funders were sure to want it for their platform of choice. We want to be hopeful, but need to be skeptical until the developers clarify.
Lest we forget, though, this is an amazing precedent in Kickstarters, possibly crowdfunds. The funding model has faced a lot of skepticism in recent years as well, with due cause, so it’s good to see devs showing their good side. We look forward to reporting more on JetGetters in the near future.
