Bear Simulator developer John Farjay, who raised $100,000 through Kickstarter to fund development, is abandoning the game after growing tired of the “drama” surrounding development and the game’s launch.
Farjay raised $100,571 from 3,871 backers to develop the game in March 2014, and has since shipped the finished product to those who pledged. Bear Simulator was then released on Steam on February 26, and has received ‘mostly positive’ user reviews in the weeks since.
So far, Bear Simulator’s story isn’t one of development hell, so why has Farjay decided to jump ship less than a year after raising $100,000?
According to the developer, who issued a statement via his Kickstarter page on March 6, there are a number of reasons behind his decision; namely his inability to improve the game any further, and the stigma surrounding its release.
“Well the game didn’t have a great reception, has a stigma against its name and there’s plenty of other problems so making any updates or going further is basically a lost cause now. Plus not skilled enough to make the game better than it currently is or write better updates than previously,” wrote Farjay.
“Was really hoping the Steam release would go well but why would it, should have just gave the game to backers and not bother with Steam.
“Also don’t want to deal with the drama anymore. Can’t ignore it because that causes more drama and can’t do anything about it because that causes more drama.”
Although Farajay says he had fun making the game, it seems the developer has struggled to stomach some of the more negative criticism, the most high profile of which came from YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, a.k.a. “PewDiePie,” who slammed Bear Simulator in a recent Let’s Play video – which, as noted by Kotaku, has now been pulled.
Before he steps away for good, Farjay has thanked positive reviewers and promised to release one final update that will include a couple of fixes and the long-awaited “Kickstarter Island” addition. After that, it seems like Farjay’s disillusionment with PC development could see him leave the industry for good.
“Will make another game update with Kickstarter Island included and some other fixes, leave a comment below of what you really want fixed. Will work on fixes and features until you’re all happy and content then stop,” continued the developer.
“Must be doing this PC game dev thing wrong because it is way too hard to stay happy and productive.”