The Creative IntelligenceArts have provided a new update on the status of Project Phoenix. Unfortunately, it is once again not great news.
So, they confirmed that Project Phoenix does have a programmer on staff. Their problem is that the programmer is delayed from joining over for two months. However, this is not the worst of it.
Their current estimates are now that they won’t be able to deliver Project Phoenix until early 2018. This is based on the time period they will need for their programmer to work on the game full time. Of course, they are also looking for more programmers now, so hopefully they will be able to revise that time frame in due time.
If you are not happy with this turn of events, unfortunately, the developer is still not allowing for refunds at this time. As they argue, this would be tantamount to admitting they have given up on making the game.
While Project Phoenix is certainly not the first Japanese crowdfund game, given its high profile and ambition, if this project fails, it would be a disaster for Japanese indies. That the developers seemed unprepared for these contingencies, knowing most of their team have other jobs and are making this on the side, would seem to be indicative of their inexperience.
Project Phoenix’s honesty is at least laudable, but it would be better if they understood the need to keep their backers happy. What would you advice the dev team they should be doing and telling backers now? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.