PSCD Games Sega Genesis / Mega Drive port of Gameenergy's multiplatform action shooter Cyber Mission is in trouble, it's been claimed.
The game raised over €23,866 earlier this year to bring the PC and console game over to Sega's 16-bit console on Kickstarter, but now seems to be at the center of a bitter disagreement between the developer PSCD Games and the publisher behind the Kickstarter campaign Gameenergy over who is actually in possession of the funds.
On Saturday, July 27th, PSCD Games published a video on YouTube accusing Gameenergy of being "scammers" and alleging that the company reneged on its agreement to send the money over to the developer, instead asking it to fund the development and manufacturing costs itself before it would send over the amount that was raised through crowdfunding.
It encouraged fans to fill out two documents: one to Gameenergy to demand the publisher hand over the funds or issue a refund to backers, and another to Kickstarter's founders asking them to intervene.
PSCD Games also alleged in both the video and over email to us that it still retains the rights to release versions of Cyber Mission for retro consoles, and claimed that it intends to go ahead with releasing the game in the future.
We reached out to Gameenergy over the weekend for a comment, but it has yet to reply to our request via email. It has, however, issued two replies on Kickstarter (under PSCD Games name) to a backer.
The first reply seems to fire back at PSCD Games. It claims "PSCD did not fulfill the terms of the contract and abandoned the project. They decided to make us look bad because it is so profitable for them to stay in good standing. It's not our fault. You should be asking them for the money. They're obligated to complete the project. It's not our fault."
The second, meanwhile, confusingly then went on to claim the game "is still in development", "all funds according to the contract have been received by PSCD", and that there's "no need to worry".
This isn't the first time one of PSCD Games' Kickstarter projects has ended in this way. In November of last year, its Kickstarter for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis port of Hunter Girls also ended in a similarly disappointing manner, with PSCD Games again alleging that the game's publisher Meridian4 had been unable to pay them as initially agreed.
In that instance, Kickstarter backers eventually received a refund, and PSCD Games went on to sell the game directly through its website.
At this point, we recommend getting your money back in whatever way possible.