A Kickstarter game by the name of The Lighthouse was recently subjected to an intellectual property dispute that ripped the game away from public view and what was a steadily growing campaign. The game was removed for only 4 days before it made a triumphant reappearance to the crowdfunding platform.
Upon its return, the indie developers (Shadow Knights Studio) explained to their backers in a heartfelt update what had happened and how the event severely impacted the progress of their game.
“As you may or may not know, we've been getting a lot of attention for The Lighthouse game and a certain big business felt compelled to go after the little guys [mostly girls]. Well, facts are facts, and justice is on our side. We can continue to operate the way we have all along without worrying."
"We do feel, however, that even though we have prevailed, our image has been slightly tarnished, as momentum has dropped and we lost backers."
"We're not going to lie, this process has derailed our progress on the game, our demo, and morale at the studio. We know that it will take
The Lighthouse originally started as a 2D point and click thriller that was developed within 48 hours at a game jam. The dev team enjoyed the product so much that they decided to rebuild the game with 3D graphics using the Unreal 4 engine. They also anticipate bringing The Lighthouse to VR.
We felt compelled to cover this story because it depicts how easily progress for an indie game can falter when things of this nature happen. Although the ambitious 3-person dev team ended being in the right, the news of the dispute resulted in a loss of backers and in return, a loss in some of the funding for their game.
As it stands, The Lighthouse has 91 backers and has met about $2,234 of their goal. With only 41 days left before the deadline and over $22,000 left to raise, we encourage you to take a look at their Kickstarter and support Shadow Knights Studio in their endeavors. At the very least, share their story and help a small indie team in the process.
For more on Kickstarter games, check out these crowdfunded indie success stories, discover why it's okay for indie developers to use Kickstarter, and check out how Bloodstained Ritual of the Night was picked up by 505 games.