CMON Picks Up Two Failed Mythic Games Kickstarter Projects

CMON has announced that they have picked up the IPs of two failed Mythic Games Kickstarter projects. This week, Mythic Games informed backers of Anastyr and HEL: The Last Saga that the company would not be moving forward with either project, citing that the projects were "excessively difficult, if not impossible, to complete with [their] current means." This is despite the two games raising a combined $3.2 million via two Kickstarter campaigns. Mythic Games also announced that CMON had purchased the IPs for both games. 

In a subsequent statement provided to backers, CMON announced that neither HEL: The Last Saga nor Anastyr were ready for publication and would require "substantial effort" to complete them. CMON stated that they were committed to releasing new versions of both games and that they would also provide "free copies" of the final base games to backers of the original Kickstarter projects, provided that the backers paid for shipping and VAT costs. However, backers would not receive any stretch goals or other rewards from their original Kickstarter pledges.

Mythic Games previously ran into substantial difficulties in the delivery of Darkest Dungeon: The Board Game, an adaptation of the popular video game. While that game raised over $5.6 million on Kickstarter, Mythic Games required backers to make a second contribution to help cover a $1.7 million shortfall related to increased shipment costs and production costs. Since then, the company re-organized by selling off IPs and laying off staff. Mythic Games still has one unfulfilled Kickstarter project, Monsterpocalypse, which raised $1.3 million. Backers have not received an update about that game in nearly a year. 

Tabletop publishers have increasingly turned to Kickstarter and other crowdfunding sites to help pre-sell board games that are either substantially developed or completed and ready for production. These Kickstarters serve as a way to market the games and also provide capital for the actual production of the games. However, these failed projects show that the Kickstarters aren't a guarantee of a completed project and that there is still risk involved when backing one of these projects (which often require a three figure pledge plus shipping to receive a reward.