Stompy Bot Productions cancels Heavy Gear Assault Kickstarter

Developer Stompy Bot Productions have canceled the Kickstarter campaign for Heavy Gear Assault, the studio's resurrection of mech simulator franchise Heavy Gear, according to an update on the campaign's page.

"We appreciate and highly value everyone's opinions here which is why we have decided to cancel this KS campaign and continue crowd funding on heavygear.com," the developer wrote in the campaign's comment section. "We believe very strongly in resurrecting the Heavy Gear franchise and giving the fans what they want. We are currently evaluating other strategies to raise awareness regarding Heavy Gear and looking at multiple means to get the Heavy Gear name out there."

In addition to the comment, a backer-only update about the cancellation was also posted on the campaign's page. The fundraiser was brought to a halt yesterday with a total $44,981 in pledges from 879 backers. Stompy Bot launched the Kickstarter campaign on May 20, with a goal of raising $800,000 before its intended conclusion on June 29.

Through the Kickstarter, the developers wanted to incorporate the first episode of a single player campaign in the initial funding goal, with additional single player episodes added as stretch goals. Oculus Rift support was also announced as a development goal.

The Kickstarter fundraiser was to supplement its own crowdfunding drive through its Heavy Gear website, which is still active. At the time of writing the campaign has raised a total of $121,160, 13 percent of its $900,000 goal.

Using Unreal Engine 4, Heavy Gear Assault is in development for Windows PC, Mac and Linux. A companion app for iOS and Android devices will allow users to spectate matches through an AI-driven spectator in the game's arena stands. Spectating users can choose to sponsor battling gears and will receive a return on investment if their sponsored mech wins.

For more about Heavy Gear Assault, be sure to read our preview where we look at how players can jump out of the mechs mid-battle and how mech CPU's will have AI personalities.

We have reached out to Stompy Bot Productions about its decision to cancel the Kickstarter campaign and will update this post when we learn more.