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Le Scythe: Death Inc Dies On Kickstarter Vine

It's been a very Kickstartery week at RPS central command land banana stand  (with more to come, if you can believe it), but not all of it's been good news. While Torment surged past its lofty $900,000 goal with such ferocity that we had to invent new numbers both to describe the amount it made and how quickly it did it, Project Awakened and now the equally promising Death Inc have fallen soberingly short. The RTS-ish 1660s freelance grim reaper simulator closed out its drive for blooooooood (or, I guess, money) at £122,711 - aka, not quite half of its £300,000 goal. So then, what is its hodgepodge of ambitious types from Media Molecule, Criterion, and Lionhead going to do now? The future's not entirely clear, but one thing's for sure: Death Inc hasn't bitten the big one just yet.

Ambient explained what happens now that Death's stuck in limbo via one final Kickstarter update:

"What a ride it has been. But it's OK! Together we've taken an exciting, grueling  and enlightening journey over the last month. We've created and released a tonne of content (including a demo and a house!) and received loads of useful feedback. We wouldn't change that for the world."

"Importantly, we would like to assure you all that you haven't seen the last of Death Inc! We are working extremely hard to make this beautiful, bonkers, original game a reality for you all."

On the upside, Ambient got some excellent exposure out of the deal, and they quite evidently have friends in some pretty high places. Like a freelancing grim reaper armed with only his wits and the bubonic plague, they have options.

At this point, Ambient's encouraging fans to stay in touch, so I imagine we'll hearing something more concrete in the not too terribly distant future. For now, though, did you end up backing it? If not, what made you hesitate? Were you not a fan of the mechanics or art style? Or was it because, like many of us, you've gone completely bankrupt funding every other game in existence, and now your house is a box, your PC is an Etch-A-Sketch powered by a potato, and your box is a smaller box?

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About the Author

Nathan Grayson

Former News Writer

Nathan wrote news for RPS between 2012-2014, and continues to be the only American that's been a full-time member of staff. He's also written for a wide variety of places, including IGN, PC Gamer, VG247 and Kotaku, and now runs his own independent journalism site Aftermath.

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