Ex-Ubisoft devs' crowdfunded RPG ReRoll has been cancelled
Developer offers £10.99 Steam Early Access game as only compensation.
Over two years ago Ex-Assassin's Creed and Far Cry developers Julien Cuny and Louis-Pierre Pharand announced ReRoll, a crowdfunded "survival action RPG" that would use drones to map out the entire planet. That game has now been cancelled.
As posted on Reddit, an email was sent to backers explaining that developer Pixyul was unable to secure enough funding for the insanely ambitious project. But not for lack of trying, as the developer searched high and low for ways to secure capital.
"We had high hopes to secure the necessary funds to achieve our final goal. Unfortunately, the money raised with the campaign plus our personal investments were not enough to develop the game on our own. We invested everything in building up the necessary elements to pitch the project to potential partners," Pixyul said in this email.
Apprently these talks were going well with one publisher on the cusp of pouring enough money into ReRoll to make it a AAA game. But alas, this didn't happen. "We did secure a few publishers that wished to pursue the discussion," Pixyul stated.
"Talks were really well advanced with two very different publishers. One wanted to invest way more money that we initially budgeted and wanted to make ReROLL a AAA game. The other was very interested but was not willing to invest the amount we planned," the developer said. "After months of discussions, back and forth on every topics imaginable, both stopped the procedures for very different reasons. One decided to invest and focus on their own properties. The other, after a difficult fiscal year, decided to focus on smaller budget games. We were crushed. Even if all was done properly and within respect. It was a hard blow."
The worst rejection came later, when Pixyul had found an "entertainment partner" that offered a "verbal agreement" to back the project. Only this too never solidified. "We never received a contract. The deal was pulled off the table. Still today we don't really know why. This one really hurt."
And with that, Pixyul was out of options.
"After being so close on multiple occasions, today, we have to face the fact that this rejection was our last hope to secure the necessary funding to pursue the development and complete the game."
"We want all of you to know that we gave our best shot and like you, we are extremely disappointed that ReROLL will not become a reality. It sucks. All of this sucks. We know many of you will be disappointed and even pissed. We understand that. We should have been better at communicating our progress. Not to give excuses, but we were caught in the process with potential partners that wished we stayed silent on our progress."
To give back to those who backed ReRoll, Pixyul is gifting Steam Early Access copies of its other game, Bios, a speedrunning shooter which Ian found frustrating upon trying it last year.
The issue is that Bios is already available to anyone for £10.99 / $14.99. Comparatively, people spent invested between $19.99 and $274.99 (or your local equivalent) on ReRoll.
"We know that gifting you copies of Bios is not what you initially wanted, but it's the best we can do," Pixyul said.
Did any of you back ReRoll? If so, how do you feel about the developer's handling of the inherently unpleasant situation?
