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Mega Man creator’s Kickstarter for a new game is a scam

It didn't hit its fundraising goals. But that didn't matter.

 

Imad Khan

Internet Culture

Posted on Jul 31, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 6:06 am CDT

When the guy who created Mega Man asked the Internet to fund his new video game, his subsequent Kickstarter was almost a sure thing. But not only has it fallen well short of its $800,000 mark, the fundraising itself has been revealed as inherently misleading.

That’s because Keiji Inafune’s Red Ash secured funding for development elsewhere.

Inafune’s studio Comcept announced this week that even if the Kickstarter fails, Red Ash is happening. It was, they said, because Comcept found a publisher in Chinese company Fuze.

A spokesperson from Comcept told Kotaku that Inafune met with Fuze at E3 last month (though only committed to backing the project after the Kickstarter). But Comcept admits that the Kickstarter was about drumming up support to show investors, and not collecting money with which to make a video game.

What will happen if the Kickstarter reaches its $800,000 funding goal? All funds would go toward extra content for Red Ash—not development of the game itself. What exactly does that even mean? According to the Kickstarter, “that will have to wait a little while longer!”

As of Friday Red Ash has raised $485,000 out of a needed $800,000. But considering that it doesn’t need to reach its Kickstarter goal to achieve development, it’s even less likely the Kickstarter will be a success.

H/T Kotaku | Screengrab via STUDIO4C/YouTube

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*First Published: Jul 31, 2015, 8:37 pm CDT