For every Mighty No. 9 or Project Eternity there have been dozens, if not hundreds of failed campaigns for new games, not to mention events, comics, albums and more. If a project falls through then the backers are entitled to their money back, the game can’t go on and no harm is done save for some disappointed developers and their fans but there is another scenario – a project developer failing to get a fully back project off the ground or delivering on their promised rewards.
Now Kickstarter one of the biggest crowd-funding sites in the business has taken measures and updated their terms of use to ensure that backers are more protected and developers unable or unwilling to meet their promises have clarification on the company’s policy:
- they post an update that explains what work has been done, how funds were used, and what prevents them from finishing the project as planned;
- they work diligently and in good faith to bring the project to the best possible conclusion in a timeframe that’s communicated to backers;
- they’re able to demonstrate that they’ve used funds appropriately and made every reasonable effort to complete the project as promised;
- they’ve been honest, and have made no material misrepresentations in their communication to backers; and
- they offer to return any remaining funds to backers who have not received their reward (in proportion to the amounts pledged), or else explain how those funds will be used to complete the project in some alternate form.
The creator is solely responsible for fulfilling the promises made in their project. If they’re unable to satisfy the terms of this agreement, they may be subject to legal action by backers.”
The full terms of use can be read here!
Editor-in-Chief, part-time super villain and hoarder of cats. If you can’t find me writing, I’m probably in the kitchen!
