KickTraq

Can the current Kickstarter boom continue and will the presence of established businesses affect our willingness to offer up our cash? (Read More)

What happens when a Kickstarter campaign for a new game fails? After Chris Taylor unceremoniously cancelled Gas-Powered Games’ “Wildman” fundraising effort, for example, his crippled, employee-less company was bought by Wargaming. Last week, two more promising Kickstarters failed to meet their goals: Ambient Studios’ “Death, Inc.” fell well short of its £300,000 goal, and Phosphor Games’ “Project Awakened” came a bit closer to raising the $500,000 it needed but still just missed out. (Read More)

In terms of sheer numbers of projects, Kickstarter isn't quite what it used to be. (Read More)

Tim Schafer says the reckless use of Kickstarter by the industry has added to the backlash against the crowdfunding platform. (Read More)

Wildman campaign failed as people 'had already spent money on crowdfunded projects'. Crowdfunding site Kickstarter is beginning to wear itself out, the CEO of troubled studio Gas Powered Games has said. (Read More)

The Kickstarter campaign for Gas Powered Games's Wildman action-RPG has been canceled, as the studio looks to turn its focus inward in hopes of keeping itself up and running. The crowdfunding effort was called off just four days ahead of its deadline, with under 50 per cent of the funding goal met at the time of cancellation. (Read More)

Game designer and Gas Powered Games boss Chris Taylor has canceled his troubled Kickstarter campaign for “Wildman,” according to a video update. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games boss Chris Taylor has said Kickstarter is starting to lose the power it gained in the wake of Double Fine Adventure’s incredible campaign last year. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor is "a little more on the cynical side" when it comes to Kickstarter and hinks the platform is "starting to wear itself out." (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters. We have some news today. We are canceling the Wildman Kickstarter. At this point, it makes sense for us to focus our attention on other ways to keep Gas Powered Games running. Unfortunately, we are unable to share any... (Read More)

Gas Powered Games' Kickstarter drive to fund action-RPG Wildman has been canceled, according an update from the developer. (Read More)

Maybe Wildman was doomed from the start. Or maybe it was the announcement early on into the Kickstarter drive that Gas Powered Games had laid off a substantial number of employees. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games has cancelled its Wildman Kickstarter project, and will now focus on keeping the studio running. With four days left, and still short of its goal by over half a million dollars, Gas Powered Games pulled its Kickstarter project for Wildman. Add another game to the pile of Kickstarter projects that never met their funding goal. (Read More)

Following a round of significant layoffs, Dungeon Siege and Age of Empires developer Gas Powered Games today announced it has canceled the Kickstarter campaign for a new RPG/RTS hybrid called Wild Man. In a video update , Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor said he is currently working on new ways to keep the company afloat, though he would not go into specifics. (Read More)

Last month Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor admitted he was "betting the company" on the crowdsourced action RPG/RTS hybrid Wildman. Well, it looks like he bet and lost if his statement holds true, as today Gas Powered announced that it's canceling the Wildman Kickstarter following its poor performance that failed to meet half of its $1.1 million goal with only four days to go. (Read More)

Chris Taylor cancels Wildman Kickstarter with four days and $600K to go at PC Gamer. PCGamer.com is the official web counterpart to the PC Gamer print magazine. Exclusive reviews, demos, and updates and news on all your favourite PC gaming franchises. (Read More)

With four days and about half a million dollars still to go, Wildman's Kickstarter has been brought to a screeching halt. The latest and last update to the project's Kickstarter page says that the team is focusing on "other ways to keep Gas Powered Games running." (Read More)

Wildman Kickstarter cancelled. Gas Powered Games' 'last chance' Kickstarter project for a new RTS/RPG hybrid game has been cancelled. (Read More)

Designer Chris Taylor has canceled his troubled Kickstarter, just four days before funding was scheduled to end. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games canceled its Kickstarter for Wildman today, with four days and another half-million dollars in funding required to reach its goal. (Read More)

The Wildman Kickstarter has been canceled and Gas Powered is pursuing other avenues to keep the studio alive. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games has cancelled its crowdfunding campaign for action RPG strategy hybrid Wildman, with founder Chris Taylor knuckling down to try and save the company. (Read More)

In terms of anticipation and dollars pledged, this has been the week of Dreamfall Chapters but you already knew about that one, right? The Katchup concerns itself with all Kreatures, great and small, and there are plenty of newcomers this week, including Tom Hall’s keen platforming tools, Projects Awakened and Cornerstone, the mad and possibly brilliant Ritual Dementia and gorgeous light-speed drifter, Race The Sun. Some projects are teetering on the brink of failure but, as we have seen with the adventure game in the past, any news reports of Kickstarter’s death are entirely premature. (Read More)

The latest Kickstarter update for Gas Powered Games' Wildman offers a look at how concept artist Kevin "The Punisher" Pun creates his illustrations. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games would have up to $3 million in total at its disposal should a publisher sign on after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Unfortunately, Wildman’s Kickstarter is not going well. With only five days left on the clock, it has raised just $476,000 of its $1.1 million goal. (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters! In this video update, Kevin Pun demonstrates how he creates concept art for Wildman!  For those of you who don't know, our own Bruce Bjorklund is hosting a Live Twitch.TV stream, everyday at 5 PM Pacific Time! Don't forget to... (Read More)

As Wildman nears the end of its Kickstarter campaign, Andrew Whipple III takes a look at the bold title and wonders if Chris Taylor’s hybrid gameplay and all-or-nothing attitude could be the jumpstart our industry needs. Chris Taylor is about as iconic, prestigious and respected a figure the world of video games could ask for. (Read More)

Get ready to get wild! Matt and I had the opportunity to sit down with Chris Taylor of Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander fame, and discuss the new action RPG project he and his company, Gas Powered Games, are working on. (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters! In this video update, Chris Taylor and Brian Fricks dive deeper into the Wildman level creation process. Nodes, lighting, sausage, and game design is all discussed! We've also included more concept work! Insects, 'creeps', and... (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters! In this video, Chris introduces one of our talented artists - Spencer Ailts! We had our first live Q/A today! (It was awesome) There was some really good information in the stream, so..  Click here to watch the recording! We... (Read More)

One day, a company called Gas Powered Games launched a Kickstarter for a new action RPG called Wildman. The next day, they laid off a number of employees and Chris Taylor, the man behind the company and the new project, showed his emotions for all the Internet to see and wondered aloud if they should even keep going. Needless to say, a lot of people in the games media took notice. (Read More)

It has been a week of travel, talk and teamwork for me, as I visited the Paradox Convention, met good people and then cursed loudly as they defeated me in everything from The Showdown Effect to Europa Universalis IV. (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters!  In this video update, Chris Taylor and Jeremy Schmidt talk about node creation for our map editors!  We are proud to announce our first live Twitch.tv Q/A session on Monday February 4th at 1 PM Pacific Time at... (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters! We have updated our main video! Check it out, let us know what you think, and share it to your friends! In the video update, Chris Taylor and Designer Brian Sturm shows off our stand alone map editor, and how we create... (Read More)

I’m excited to introduce a new feature at the Roberts Space Industries website: “Game Changers!“. Informal discussions with well-known game developers to give everyone an insight into the developer perspective, the things that excite or challenge and to talk a little about what they are up to. An insider’s access to talented developers that have made games that both you and I love. (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters. In this video update, Chris answers some of the most popular questions asked in the last week. Once again, thank you for your continued support and for helping us spread the Wildman word. Every post, like, share, and tweet... (Read More)

Chris Taylor knows he and his company have survived worse moments than this one. But it sure doesn’t feel that way. He can tell you stories about being millions of dollars in the hole, and dipping deeply into his own personal line of credit to keep Gas Powered Games alive and to make payroll. There have been times when they had debt and no projects and no publishers. There have been times when he’s been at serious risk of not just losing his company, but the home he shares with his family. (Read More)

At its current trajectory, Gas Powered Games' Kickstarter crowd funding campaign for its game Wildman will not be funded if it can't raise around $44,000 a day for the next 17 days. (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters. In today’s video, Chris Taylor gives the first public demo of our mod tools, and web platform – Project Mercury. Leave your feedback and questions in the comments section, and we’ll try to address them in our next Q/A... (Read More)

Gas Powered Games' Chris Taylor thinks the Kickstarter is a long shot. When Wildman's Kickstarter numbers first started to wobble, Gas Powered Games' Chris Taylor took the extraordinary step of letting pretty much his entire staff go, to protect them as much as possible. The Kickstarter continues, but at this point Taylor isn't as hopeful as he was that there will be a happy resolution to the problem. (Read More)

Just last week we learned that Chris Taylor, the developer behind Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander, was forced to lay off a significant number of people from his company Gas Powered Games after the Kickstarter campaign for their game Wildman was met with underwhelming funding rates. Yesterday, in an hour long interview posted on YouTube channel Matt Chat, Taylor very openly addressed the details of the company's financial woes, and his discomfort with Kickstarter. (Read More)

This week, spaceships are constructed, nobody loses and the Katchup features an open source 3D engine Linux port, which certainly sounds like the sort of thing that should be happening but also makes me realise how little I know about the availability of engine licenses and the complexities of game development. Maybe I’ll ask Jim to teach me, although I reckon most of his input on Sir, You Are Being Hunted involves polite requests for ‘more robots and tea’. (Read More)

New $5 and $10 reward tiers have been added to Gas Powered Games’ Wildman Kickstarter, along with a video detailing how to fit RTS elements into an action-RPG. The new $5 tier gives backers “immediate posting access to the Wildman forum,” when the Kickstarter has completed. Non-backers will have read-only access. The new $10 tier hands out exclusive access to the pre-release Wildman beta as well as forum access. (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters. Today's video walks you through the design for Wildman and delivers some insight on how to fit an RTS into an action-RPG.  We've also included a new piece of concept art starring... dinosaurs! And in other news, we've added... (Read More)

Last week Gas Powered Games's Chris Taylor announced significant layoffs at his studio only days after revealing a Kickstarter for an action-RPG called Wildman. After posting a video update on Wildman's Kickstarter page stating that the futures of GPG and Wildman were tied up in how much demand there was for the game, Taylor revealed in a Reddit AMA that the Kickstarter will continue for now. (Read More)

Greetings Kickstarters. You've wanted to see more in-game footage, and we've struggled with showing the game at this state of development versus what it will look like if this Kickstarter is funded and work continues. Below are two images. They are... (Read More)

Gas Powered Games suffered a bout of lay-offs last week following the poor initial reaction to its Wildman Kickstarter campaign. Studio boss and founder Chris Taylor has taken to a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ to discuss how the company has entered into such troubling financial times. Taylor was posed this very question, to which he responded, “GPG is in a very interesting situation, as we had enough money to get us through to the end of the campaign. What became obvious by day 4, is that the campaign was going so poorly, there was no way it was going to happen. (Read More)

Chris Taylor says that laying off the majority of Gas Powered Games employees may have saved the game and the studio. In what is possibly the strangest Kickstarter launch ever, Gas Powered Games boss Chris Taylor announced the action-RPG Wildman and then, a week later, laid off almost the entire development team. But he didn't pull the plug on the Kickstarter; instead, he asked supporters and fans whether he should continue the campaign and rehire the team if it succeeds, or shut it down right away. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games will carry on with its Kickstarter campaign for its PC game Wildman. Given a slower-than-hoped for start to pledges, Gas Powered Games chief executive Chris Taylor made an impassioned plea in a video update Friday, and fans are coming through. (Read More)

Washington state studio Gas Powered Games is clinging on following deep cuts to its workforce over the weekend. Estimates in the media suggest that as many as forty staff had been let go from the Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander studio on Friday, following the news that its director Chris Taylor is "betting the company" on a Kickstarter project. (Read More)

In the wake of employee layoffs, Gas Powered Games ponders whether to stop its Kickstarter. (Read More)

Chris Taylor asks backers whether he should continue with Wildman Kickstarter at PC Gamer. PCGamer.com is the official web counterpart to the PC Gamer print magazine. Exclusive reviews, demos, and updates and news on all your favourite PC gaming franchises. (Read More)

Kickstarter could do more than keep Gas Powered Games' strategy game Wildman, afloat — it could save the company itself, CEO Chris Taylor tells Polygon. (Read More)

It’s taken me longer than I’d hoped, but I’ve finally managed to exorcise the last spirits of 2012 from the Kickstarter Katchup and the 2013 instalments can now begin. The extended break has left us with a lot to katch up on so there will be a lot of winners and losers this week, covering many of the games in the last Katchup. I’m not going to list every game that failed to reach its target but all the winners will be there, as well as any that are of particular interest or have detailed plans for the future. (Read More)

Update: Gas Powered Games founder Chris Taylor has issued a video update explaining the situation. Evidently he felt uneasy about gambling his employees' livelihood on Wildman, because if it failed he'd have to shut down the company and no one would receive their severance or unpaid PTO. Thus, he decided the merciful thing to do would be to lay off "a substantial number of the team" and rehire them back if they're still available if and when the Wildman Kickstarter hits its goal. Given the bleak situation Taylor is wondering if it's even worth continuing the Kickstarter campaign as people may have given up on the company, so he's asking people to vote with their comments. (Read More)

According to reports handed to Kotaku (thanks, Splatterhouse), all employees at the Redmond, Washington studio have been let-go except for CEO Chris Taylor and “one or two people.” Taylor told Gamasutra that while the “studio is still operating, but we had to slim WAY down to conserve cash reserves.” Taylor told the site earlier in the week it was “betting the company” on its Wildman Kickstarter as it had little cash left in its coffers to continue operations. (Read More)

Right then, let me try laying this one out on paper, because I’m still having a hard time comprehending it. So, a few days ago, Chris Taylor and Gas Powered Games announced a rather massive Kickstarter. Wildman, they said, would need $1.1 million in its tank before it could get off the ground, but they had it all planned out. So we got some gameplay footage, and everything seemed to be proceeding apace – minus, perhaps, the Kickstarter itself, which was acting less prehistoric hare beast and more tribal tortoise mutant. But apparently, that wasn’t good enough. So now, mere days after kicking off its Kickstarter, Gas Powered Games is kicking most of its employees to the curb. And according to Chris Taylor, Wildman’s Kickstarter might end up on the chopping block as well. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games appears to be in a much more dire place than previously thought. The company was forced yesterday to lay off a "substantial number of the team" in the face of unconvincing Kickstarter support for their new project, Wildman. If the Kickstarter project gets funded, perhaps the team can be hired back, but in the interim the company needs community support to decide whether to even continue the project. (Read More)

We've heard from two sources that there have been big layoffs at Gas Powered Games, the company that just launched a Kickstarter for $1.1 million to make their next game, Wildman. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games has released 'prototype gameplay' footage for Kickstarter action RTS Wildman. The Supreme Commander studio describes the game as an action RPG/RTS hybrid, which sees players take control of a caveman-esque "wildman" (or woman) pushing to dominate an environment ripe with evolving technology and culture. (Read More)

The developer of Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander has been hit with company-wide layoffs just days after the studio launched a Kickstarter campaign for its next game, Wildman. "These layoffs are substantial, but it's not everyone," Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor told Polygon in an email. "We still have a fully functioning company, IT, HR, Operations, etc. And have retained some key people." (Read More)

Hopes to raise 1 million dollars to make it happen Gas Powered Games founder Chris Taylor is turning to Kickstarter to fund his studio’s next PC creat... (Read More)

It wasn’t the most auspicious start to a crowdfunding campaign. Two hours before the Kickstarter page had even gone up, rumours of Total Annihilation and Dungeon Siege designer Chris Taylor’s new game, Wildman, had surfaced on news sites. The game, a brave hybrid of RPG, RTS, hack-and-slash and MOBA is aiming for a modest budget of $1.1 million, meaning it’ll need around $35,000 a day to make its target. (Read More)

Sometimes the best part of an interview comes after the interview is over, and sometimes when we say something like, “I’m gonna lead with that,” we have to keep our word. I won’t make you work for it: Chris Taylor’s balls become fixtures in the conversation on the third page. (Read More)

Chris Taylor, CEO and designer at Gas Powered Games, wants you to help him launch his next game, Wildman. Taylor, speaking to IGN in a recent interview, said he views the Kickstarter successes of Star Citizen, Double Fine Adventure and others as, “a tearing down of the walls,” a way for he and his team to “put an idea out before the world before [they] build it.” If you like what the studio is offering with Wildman, Taylor and company would love your money. (Read More)

Chris Taylor, known for games like Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander, is launching a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a fantasy video game called Wildman. (Read More)

Chris Taylor and the crew at Gas Powered Games are at it again. The studio famous for Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, and Dungeon Siege are combining those genres into something new, and are looking towards the fans to make it happen. Wildman is an "evolutionary" action-RPG now on Kickstarter that features the action-RPG elements of Dungeon Siege, the RTS parts of Supreme Commander, and even the MOBA aspects of Demigod. Sounds interesting, doesn't it? (Read More)

Chris Taylor, designer of Dungeon Siege and Total Annihilation, tackles a new game and a new development model. (Read More)

Gas Powered Games founder Chris Taylor today launched the official Kickstarter campaign for his next big game called Wildman. Taylor and GPG are seeking $1.1 million in funding for the development of what he calls an action game that combines some of the best elements of his previous titles including Dungeon Siege, Supreme Commander and Demigod. Taylor is best known for creating the ultra popular real-time strategy game Total Annihilation while at Cavedog Entertainment. (Read More)

I really like when the old-school designers head to Kickstarter for something new, they seem to understand what it means to evolve a genre and take a risk without breaking the bank, so to speak. This rings true for Chris Taylor and crew at Gas Powered Games, who have taken to Kickstarter for their new project Wildman. (Read More)

Chris Taylor isn’t sleeping well. It’s Friday, January 11th, and there are only 72 hours until Gas Powered’s first Kickstarter goes live. He and his team at Gas Powered Games are constantly second-guessing themselves and worrying about the strength of their pitch for Wildman. Are they showing too little? They have prototype assets they can use, but they worry that the low-quality will make people think Wildman is likewise low-quality. But if they only show the stuff that looks good right now, chiefly concept art, Taylor and GPG worry that people will think the project looks too narrow, or too incomplete. How do you create a pitch that leaves people satisfied, yet hungry for more? (Read More)

A number of times during our interview on Friday, Chris Taylor asked me if what he was saying made sense, if I “got” Wildman, his newly announced, Kickstarter-funded RTS / MOBA. Taylor talks a mile a minute and there’s always the sense that his words are trying to catch up to his brain, but more than that, Wildman is something different and harder to explain than he’s used to pitching. (Read More)