The team at Comcept has been in the news recently for their decision to delay Mighty No. 9 from this year to early 2016. Many people feel as though Comcept has stretched itself too thin, as Mighty No. 9 is not even on shelves yet and already a project with Microsoft was announced at E3, in addition to the now failed Red Ash Kickstarter that launched last month.
Engadget recently sat down with producer Nick Yu to discuss some of the team’s decisions about the game and their responsibility to those who backed them on Kickstarter. Engadget had some harsh words for Nick and the whole interview is worth reading, but perhaps the most interesting part of the interview comes when Nick was asked how the developers themselves feel about the several delays.
But, and this is my personal view, the creators announcing the bad news feel worse than the backers. You know that you have to tell the people, and it’ll make them sad; it’ll make them upset. And you’re the reason for that happening. You’re the one making it. Even if it was accidental, or you had no control over it, you’re the reason the delay happened. We feel bad. Really, really bad.
Nick goes on to elaborate on the fan feedback and anger at Comcept not announcing the delay until now. Remember that rumor of the delay broke when retailers began listing the game as a Q1 2016 release. Official word of the delay didn’t come until a few days later.
People are saying that we didn’t announce the delay fast enough. But although we saw the possibility of the delay, we weren’t sure. You’ll never be sure until the moment when you say, “This is not going to make it anymore.” Even if there are rumors or possibilities for delay, we can’t say anything until we are sure. In the end, that might cause some bad PR, people calling you liars, but there’s nothi– there’s maybe some things we could’ve done better, but, at that point, we couldn’t say anything for sure, so. … We are upset as well, just as much as the backers.
When asked why Comcept has so many projects balanced on its lap, Nick mentioned that the reality of game development means the team needs to keep developing in order to stay solvent. If not, the company is in danger of going bankrupt.
How do you feel about the delay?
