Normally the failure of a small independent game with a measly $29k budget wouldn't cause any headlines. But when Haunts: The Manse Macabre failed, the news were all over the internet. Because Haunts had been funded by 1214 backers on Kickstarter. It doesn't look like there was a scam or anything, but making a video game is always a risky business. And now this project will either need to find a white knight to rescue it, or just be dead.

Supporting a game on Kickstarter is not some sort of pre-order; it is a risky investment in an industry that always had more misses than hits. Lots of people dream of making a game, and few have the skills required to actually pull it off. Expect this sort of story to happen more and more often.