Consequent to Embracer’s buyout of Gearbox amid a Fig crowdfunding for Homeworld 3, drastic change caused investors to be unhappy.
Back in 2019, Gearbox ran a campaign that could bring another Homeworld title to the mainstream. Specifically, a third mainline series entry, despite years-long stagnation and following acquisition by said game company in 2013. The funding has proven to be a success by garnering a lump sum of $1.5 million a mere 30 days since kickstarting the initiative.
Ensuring the legitimacy of the project, backers are promised progress into its development in a form of periodic updates. A process of which that had seen significant slowdown during the pandemic.
Crowdsourcing and Investment
What makes the campaign extra special than its Kickstarter counterpart, however, is that a Fig campaign promises more than just a game. Whereas the former only assures delivery of the game as soon as it becomes gold, the latter offers more business to it. In particular, a chance for investors to put in more money than their pledge for a future dividend. It is a win-win proposition that sees the developers having more resources at their disposal for the project and supporters expecting ROI.
Things have been rosy with the undertaking for a while, until Embracer appeared into the picture. More specifically, after an announcement that it’s buying out Gearbox in what is that year’s one of biggest business deals. The repercussion primarily boiling down on the decision to dissolve the idea of an investment scheme with the game’s development.
The Bad News
Bringing the dismay to the people is an email saying that investment reservations to the game is officially getting cancelled. That is, citing the obvious reason about Gearbox’s “recent changes” in ownership as the cause.
The email thus reads:
“As you may be aware, there have been recent changes at Gearbox”.
“Due to these developments, Fig will no longer be collecting investment reservations for Homeworld 3, and all investors that placed an investment reservation in Homeworld 3 will NOT have that investment collected. Rest assured knowing that Fig never charged you for your investment reservation and that this will not affect Homeworld 3 pre-orders.”
Even without the bold letters, it is apparent that anything relevant to investment is out of the question. Not only does it close the door for willing investors, it also kicks actual investors out of the room. This is indeed not good, especially for those who are seeking to get more from their cash, aside from just a game.
Image used courtesy of Homeworld 3