D&D General What happened to Sasquatch Game Studios?

[A2Z]

Does anyone know what happened to Sasquatch Game Studios? Their website hasn't been updated since 2018 . Their last Kickstarter for Alternity seems to have fizzled out without delivering everything that was promised. There's lots of complaints in the comments and no one from the company has posted there on over a year. The last update was May of this year. And finally Richard Baker left the company in February 2020.

From his blog;

What about Sasquatch Game Studio?

I’m stepping away from active participation in Sasquatch. We’ve got some work to do on one more sourcebook for our Alternity RPG Kickstarter campaign, and I’ve arranged some freelance help to get that book finished. Going forward, Dave Noonan and Steve Schubert will handle all Sasquatch business decisions and product development. I wish them the best!

I really enjoyed Primeval Thule and I was kind of excited for the return of Alternity, though their new version doesn't seem to have too much in common with the original. These were some big names to have just dropped the ball on things like that. Especially considering they even created one of the official adventure for WotC.

So yeah, what happened? I'm kind of surprised I haven't seen anything about it.

 

[darjr]

Primeval Thule was such a great idea!

 

[Shiroiken]

Primeval Thule was such a great idea!

I know nothing of Sasquatch Games, but I played in a Thule campaign, which was amazing! It gave a really good sword & sorcery feel, which is a personal preference over the usual high fantasy.

 

[AOieiosle]

My guess would be (as someone who was in the kickstarter) they set the KS minimum too low to create Alternity, promised expansions with good intentions, and then realized it's not enough money to pay people for the work. Stuck in a terrible loss-limbo.

 

[darjr]

I saw your other post, so no news?

 

[A2Z]

Nope, I can't find anything. They've ghosted.

 

[R_J_K75]

Their last Kickstarter for Alternity seems to have fizzled out without delivering everything that was promised.

My guess would be (as someone who was in the kickstarter) they set the KS minimum too low to create Alternity, promised expansions with good intentions, and then realized it's not enough money to pay people for the work. Stuck in a terrible loss-limbo.

I've only backed a handful of Kickstarters since 2010. I always got what was promised. But are there no repercussions for companies/projects that don't deliver what was promised? If I'm understanding this they over promised, ran out of money, and then disappeared without any explanation? Good intentions aside, how are companies allowed to get away with this or KS not on the hook to make sure the project is completely fulfilled. This will just make me even more cautious and selective next time I consider backing another. Really what's stopping a company that list a project with no intentions of ever creating the product and just taking people's money?

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Really what's stopping a company that list a project with no intentions of ever creating the product and just taking people's money?

That's called fraud, and is illegal.

 

[DarkCrisis]

it happens. Rarely, luckily. I think I’ve been ghosted on 2-3 projects. Video game based, though.

Only almost ghosted I had was the Evil Dead board game but another investor stepped in or something and saved the project after they said they could afford to complete it.

 

[A2Z]

You aren't really buying a product on kickstarter. You are contributing funding for them to create something. You aren't guaranteed they will succeed. You need to decide for yourself if they're trustworthy enough to follow through on their promises. Sasquatch had a good track record before this.

https://help.kickstarter.com/hc/en-us/sections/115001107133-Accountability