Investors Lose Money as Untamed Isles Goes on ‘Hiatus’

• Untamed Isles, a cryptocurrency-based Kickstarter initiative, has been halted with No refunds for initial backers.
• Josh Grant, CEO of Phat Loot Studios, said the game would be paused owing to the crypto downturn and lack of funds.
• The developer hopes to release more of the game “someday.”

Untamed Isles, a cryptocurrency-based Kickstarter campaign, has been halted, and no refunds will be given to initial backers. The developer cites the recent cryptocurrency crisis as the primary cause but expects that gamers will see more of the game “someday.”

Last week, the business announced a “hiatus” of their Pokemon-like open-world video game, drawing criticism from fans who claimed the developers were using money intended for game production to bet on the cryptocurrency markets.

The developers behind the project, which earned over 841,000 NZD (USD 525,000) on Kickstarter, stated on Wednesday that all funds raised “were spent by the studio developing the game.”

Since “several investors” have recently pulled out “due to concerns about both the economic market along with the crypto market,” the firm stated that it had exhausted its available funds, hence the indefinite delay.

Josh Grant, CEO of Phat Loot Studios, stated in a blog post on the Untamed Isles Kickstarter page that the game would be paused due to the crypto slump and a lack of financial resources.

The project had been slated for an October release, according to the first announcement, but Grant indicated that work had been paused because the company was unable to “financially keep up with the demands.”

The blog article made no indication of what would happen to the money put up by the initial backers. An FAQ section on the game’s website does offer some clarification:

“Due to our cash reserves being empty, we are not in a position to refund our initial backers. We are truly sorry about this and wish this scenario was different.”

However, according to the studio, some funders withdrew investment because of the game’s relationship with cryptocurrency and web3-integrated games:

“[…] It was proving hard to get pre-order traction given the negative sentiment associated with web3-integrated games, despite Untamed Isles being primarily a full MMORPG game (with web3 marketplace only an ancillary future integration in the background for those players that wanted to trade their in-game items outside of the game). This caused us to take a critical look at launching the game in this current market.”

While Phat Loot Studios has blamed the crypto crash that occurred in May of this year, it should be noted that the studio still made Untamed Isles available for pre-order just ten days before they halted development.