Homeworld 3 bins investment scheme
The game's still coming, it's just not accepting Fig investors
When Homeworld 3 launched a token crowdfunding campaign in 2019, it was through a site which not only lets people throw in cash, it lets some actually invest in the game and get paid if it does well. Well, that's off. While development continues, the investment aspect has been binned, presumably as a consequence of Homeworld owners Gearbox being bought by the ever-growing Embracer Group. But Homeworld 3 is still on. So that's fine.
One would-be investor shared the e-mail they received from Fig on Reddit. The message notes that "there have been recent changes at Gearbox" and because of that, Fig has cancelled investment reservations. No one actually paid to invest, it was all still pending. The e-mail is also clear that the game and backer rewards are still coming to people who paid for 'em, they're just scrapping the whole investment thing.
Gearbox were recently bought in April by Embracer Group, the giant web of studios and publishers which includes Deep Silver, THQ Nordic, and dozens more.
Fig CEO Justin Bailey told GamesIndustry.biz that the Homeworld 3 campaign hadn't yet reached the point where they'd reach out to folks who registered to invest and actually seal the deal. Bailey said Fig were in talks with Gearbox to get that rolling but these "trailed off after the acquisition announcement."
Fig has never sat right with me as a crowdfunding platform. Feels weird and crass to say 'Hey fans, come give us money to potentially make a game and we'll give you a t-shirt' and 'Hey investors, come give us money to potentially make a game and we might give you money' on the same page. Especially when Homeworld 3's goal was a $1 token sum to see how much they can raise, not to determine whether the game got made or not. I'm fine with crowdfunding and fine with investing but both side-by-side just feels off.
I'd very much like to see something of Homeworld 3 at Gearbox's E3 Showcase stream on Saturday. No clue if they will show it, mind. See our E3 2021 schedule for more on all of the everything. In the meantime, the devs have been posting art and bits and pieces in updates on Fig.
Homeworld 3 devs Blackbird Interactive have also been working on Hardspace: Shipbreaker, a first-person job sim about cutting up spaceships for scrap. It's very good, even in early access. Sin (RPS in peace) celebrated the small details, and Alex Wiltshire talked with the devs about the design behind the cutting too.