#3) [Otome Games/BTS] Indie devs enrage fans of their crowdfunded games with a censorship controversy, years of broken promises and delays, & legal troubles on a BTS fan game
View the discussion on reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/abjkzf/otome_gamesbts_indie_devs_enrage_fans_of_their/
Post (words belong to original poster linked):
Tl;dr at the bottom since this spans several years and numerous layers of drama and is therefore very long.
Otome games: a niche genre aimed at a female audience, typically visual novels with a female player character and romanceable male characters. Originated in Japan.
Visual novel (VN): a game where the story and dialogue is (mostly) conveyed in text, accompanied by relatively simple visuals and audio, and with choices that change the direction of the story. Also originated in Japan. VNs made in English are sometimes distinguished with the moniker OELVN (Original English Language Visual Novel).
Route: a specific path or branch of a visual novel, often one involving a romance with a particular character.
Pay-per-route: a payment model mainly found in mobile otome games where a game's prologue/common route is free and each character's route is bought separately as DLC. There may also be separate epilogues, sequels and other DLC.
BTS: a massively popular 7-member Kpop boy idol group.
ARMY/ARMYs: the official name of BTS's fanbase/fans.
BigHit Entertainment: BTS's agency.
This drama concerns one small indie dev company, Aeon Dream Studios (ADS), formerly known as Star Maiden Games, and three of their games:
Mystic Destinies: Serendipity of Aeons (MDSOA): their first game for PC & mobile, an urban fantasy OELVN otome game;
Mystic Destinies: Echoes (Echoes): a promised sequel where the romanceable characters are the male antagonists of the first game;
To the Edge of the Sky (TTEOTS): originally a nonromantic BTS fan game for PC & mobile where the members of BTS are reimagined as operatives in a cyberpunk future. There was no in-game mention of the members' names or of BTS itself, but characters were visibly recognisable as BTS members and the group's name was frequently used in descriptions & promotions by the devs. Though originally free, the game was later monetised.
I'll break things down by year for easier reading. I only became aware of the drama this summer and most of this post is the product of my amateur internet sleuthing in the last month, so I apologise if I have made any mistakes.
Star Maiden Games formed and began developing MDSOA in 2015. Like many indie otome game developers, in September 2015 they turned to Kickstarter for funding with a $2,000 goal. Five days later they'd met the target, and when the campaign closed they had $3,555 pledged in total and several stretch goals met. Looking back now, they were a little overoptimistic in promises for sequels and episodic content which were never added. The $3,500 stretch goal of customisable MC skin colour was also never implemented, though this was supposedly because one backer cancelled their pledge.
MDSOA was soon Greenlit and released on Steam in February 2016 with a free prologue and a single route as paid DLC; four more routes and five corresponding epilogues were to be added as DLC as they were completed. Though the majority of initial reviews were positive (see chart), several Steam users left negative reviews, many criticising the pay-per-route model that had given multiple players the false impression that the entire game was free. One reviewer made a deeply critical playthrough of the prologue on Youtube, branding the game 'Serendipishit', and was soon notified it had been taken down by a copyright strike from the developers. His video about the strike gained significant attention on Reddit and a backlash began to form against the developers' perceived attempt to censor criticism.
A day later, the reviewer posted a follow-up video asking viewers to stop harassing the devs. Having personally spoken with them, he now stated the developers were revoking the strike and everything was good. The exact same thing also happened to another Youtuber at roughly the same time (initial video, video about the strike, update. Judging by a comment on the latter video, the Youtuber believed after speaking to the devs that the copyright strikes were deliberate manual strikes aimed at negative reviews.)
In both cases the follow-ups attracted a fraction of the attention that the videos about the strikes got and the controversy took a while to die down. Outside of Steam the developers made only the vaguest allusions to these events. The devs' most detailed comment on the issue, along with a defence of their payment model, was in response to a Steam review, where they claimed they had not specifically targeted negative reviews, only videos that did not have their direct permission to be posted.
Despite the censorship furore, otome game fans who tried MDSOA were largely pleased with the game and a small but passionate fanbase formed. The developers had a small number of Patreon supporters; bonuses included a short story set before MDSOA, which was also sold for $1+ on Gumroad. The second route came out in May 2016, and that month Star Maiden Games changed their name to Aeon Dream Studios, only citing "varied" reasons for the change.
At some point during the year, the two creative heads of the studio became fans of Korean idol group BTS due to relating to the lyrics of Dope, a motivational anthem about the group's tireless work and commitment to attaining success while refusing to bow to criticism. According to later statements by the CEO/Creative Director of ADS, the devs were enduring significant poverty and exhaustion while working on MDSOA during this time.
That September the third route released and ADS launched another Kickstarter campaign to help fund the final 2 routes and a deluxe edition DLC, all of which were slated to be out by December. Fans spread the word and within 4 days they reached the funding goal of $7,500. The devs then rebranded much of the page to reflect their stretch goal, a sequel called Mystic Destinies: Echoes, initially promised for March 2017. Though the stretch goal was not reached, the funding surplus (roughly $5,500) was put towards Echoes with another Kickstarter planned later to finish funding. The fourth MDSOA route was briefly delayed but came out at the end of November. The fifth route and the DLC did not end up arriving in December as promised, but as some delays are par for the course with Kickstarter, nobody was too perturbed. However, whispers of unrest began as ADS started making references to a BTS fan project.
The developers finished funding Echoes through their third Kickstarter in January 2017. This slightly surpassed its $7,200 goal with a closing total in February of $8,033, and they also opened preorders for the game on itch.io (since closed). They now aimed to first finish MDSOA and its Kickstarter reward fulfilment and then release Echoes in "late Spring 2017", or at least no later than Summer 2017. The studio at the time consisted of only 3 employees, with some work contracted out to others.
Obviously, things didn't quite pan out.
Despite the amount of work still to be done on the Mystic Destinies games, in March 2017 they also released a demo for their BTS fan game, TTEOTS, and in May were soliciting funds through Gofundme for further development. (This closed in September 2017 at $1000 raised.) They dreamed of receiving an official endorsement from BigHit and not only emailed and tweeted at BigHit (with no response) but encouraged fans to do so as well, mobilising under the Twitter hashtag #ARMYWantsBTSGames. Though they never received any response, they decided to go ahead with the game anyway. Meanwhile, due to the pushbacks, lack of updates, and emergence of the BTS project, Mystic Destinies fans began to criticise the studio more openly (sample comments: one, two, three).
One focus of criticism was the devs' poor communication. Statements and news were scattered across multiple platforms or buried in Kickstarter comments, leading to confusion and rumours flying among the discontented community. When pressed for answers about whether the delays were TTEOTS-related, the developers insisted they were only working on one game at a time. Meanwhile, the final route of MDSOA hit further delays and due to the devs' communication issues many fans only found out it had been split into two parts when the first book finally released in June. The second followed in July, while the deluxe edition DLC was now slated for "Summer 2017". Continuous delays followed, but the developers posted semi-regular updates, blaming delays on problems like Hurricane Irma and their main artist leaving. In October the DLC was still not out and the devs stated Echoes would be out in November - but at the same time they were running more crowdfunding campaigns for TTEOTS.
As a BTS fan game, the developers tapped into a large and dedicated worldwide fanbase, so it wasn't a surprise that the two TTEOTS funding campaigns launched in October across Kickstarter and Fundrazr netted over $36,000 in total. From here on Fundrazr was the devs' crowdfunding platform of choice, using its "Keep it all" option where backers' money is sent immediately and campaigns can run forever. By November 2017 TTEOTS's first part had been launched to the public and they created a petition for BigHit to officially recognise the game (9000 signatures and 2k+ comments as of this post), but there were no updates on Echoes or MDSOA's deluxe edition DLC until the end of the month, when both were again delayed until December. Still, as the releases had only been delayed by a month or two each time, it seemed like both games must be near to completion.
Just two weeks later, ADS pushed back Echoes' release date indefinitely, offering a vague promise of 2018, and stated Echoes would now have less content than originally promised - 10 hours' gameplay instead of 15-25. They claimed they would offer refunds to anyone who wanted one but backers were understandably confused and upset, leaving comments expressing their frustration. As 2017 ended, fans were growing deeply concerned.
After announcing another delay for the MDSOA DLC and receiving a few exasperated responses, the devs posted a backer-exclusive update threatening to forcibly issue refunds to backers whose behaviour they found dissatisfactory and blaming negative comments as the reason for their silences. I was not a backer so don't have a screenshot, but here's part of the text:
We would like to issue a reminder to everyone interacting with us in the community that comments should remain respectful and polite. [...] we ask that the community please keep a positive, welcoming environment instead of the toxic one it's veering into for us - which also makes us reluctant to speak openly about our progress and engage with the community more often. If you feel you cannot do this, or are engaging in abusive language, we do reserve the right to refuse service - this can result processing a refund for your backer number. [...] Part of supporting a project is more than just the financial aspect, but being an encouraging, welcoming presence for the team to come back to and feel comfortable with discussing the development with you in our regular updates. (emphasis added)
Many read this as a threat to stop airing any criticism whatsoever. In the Steam forums, backers dissected the devs' statements and wondered about the legality of TTEOTS, with one user predicting legal trouble was inevitable. (sample comments: one, two, three)
In February, ADS launched another Twitter campaign to promote TTEOTS using the hashtag #BTSxTTEOTS and the account @Trend_TTEOTS. They also hired a new writer, a BTS and TTEOTS fan who had helped promote the game by handing out promo cards at BTS concerts before she was hired. She was set to work on Echoes along with another employee while the most experienced employees, including the CEO, continued work on TTEOTS.
February also brought the release of the deluxe edition DLC for MDSOA, which meant the game was at last considered complete over a year later than promised. Some backers were incredibly frustrated by this point as those who had paid for the full deluxe edition of the game on Kickstarter did not receive any part of the game until the deluxe edition DLC was finished. As the promised release date had been December 2016 at the time of the Kickstarter, backers had certainly not expected such a long and uncertain wait to receive the full game. Some backers had been so dedicated to the game that they had bought the DLC as it came out on Steam on top of backing one or more of the Kickstarters.
As for Echoes, there was little mention of it throughout the first half of 2018, but the devs continued to post regularly about TTEOTS, released the first volume of a TTEOTS graphic novel on ComiXology, and launched additional crowdfunding campaigns on Fundrazr, including:
a project to send gifts to BTS in hopes of receiving official recognition for TTEOTS ($645);
a full length TTEOTS novel (which is still open and currently stands at over $3.5k);
a second campaign to fund TTEOTS development ($4,123);
a campaign to revamp TTEOTS's art ($4,516).
As 2018 rolled on, Echoes backers became angrier at the continued lack of updates and perceived favouritism towards TTEOTS. Those following the devs' social media in hopes of receiving Echoes news were infuriated by the constant stream of TTEOTS-related posts; even the Echoes Kickstarter received an update which featured several lines about TTEOTS and only a cursory mention of Echoes at the end. Despite their claims that half the studio was working on Echoes, their silence about the progress of the game continued and was not well received.
Comments in the Steam forums and elsewhere had by now become much more accusatory. Some backers speculated that the money they'd paid for Echoes had been funneled into TTEOTS instead; some suggested the devs were just opportunists cashing in on BTS's popularity by milking eager fans for money. Since January, numerous Echoes backers had reported difficulty getting the promised refunds (example), often due to unanswered emails and messages, or failed to get any response when asking about backer rewards they were still owed (example).
TTEOTS Premium also launched in late May, swiftly climbing to the #10 Paid Casual app on the Google Play store. Premium included extra content, including exclusive art and the beginnings of romantic content with the characters. For $9.99 Premium players were promised an all-access season pass to all future content up to the game's completion date in December 2018.
With a large fanbase and multiple revenue streams, TTEOTS seemed to be thriving despite the escalating discontent from Mystic Destinies fans.
Then, in early August, the devs dropped a bombshell: they had been served a cease & desist by BTS's agency, BigHit Entertainment, along with a demand for financial records regarding TTEOTS.
Though TTEOTS was originally a free fan game, BTS's agency may have finally felt a legal line was crossed with the addition of its premium version - presumably they had been aware of the game for some time due to the volume of ADS and ARMY's attempts at contact. Irate Echoes backers experienced a certain schadenfreude at this announcement, with some perceiving it to be the studio's comeuppance. Many had given up on ever getting Echoes and some actively hoped ADS would be sued into bankruptcy.
After the C&D the devs hired legal advice and launched Operation Phoenix, an effort to edit the game's art so characters could not be recognised as BTS, as well as redact all mention of BTS elsewhere to avoid legal repercussions. Some art was updated, but other characters' faces were hidden with masks while new art was being worked on. As many TTEOTS players were ARMYs, some complained about the change or stopped playing entirely, but if anything much of the game's fanbase was bolstered by the crisis. ARMYs sometimes have a contentious relationship with BTS's agency and some felt that BigHit's approach to TTEOTS was not only unfair but set a worrying precedent for other BTS fan works. (At least one fan took to calling the agency 'BigShit'.)
The developers posted two passive aggressive tweets bidding goodbye to those who had abandoned the game due to the C&D and Operation Phoenix and thanking those who stayed.
Not long after, they suddenly began posting developer interviews to promote Echoes' "imminent release" in September 2018, and appeared in the MDSOA Steam forums to lock a discussion thread with over 200 posts which backers had been using for more than a year to discuss and speculate on the Kickstarter problems and, later, the legal situation with TTEOTS. The devs posted a warning against libel and slander and instructed anyone with concerns to email them directly and wait 72 hours for a response instead of posting on the forums. Some commenters felt this was simply an attempt to threaten them into shutting up and hide criticism from the public eye, prompting dozens of outraged comments in response. Several people pointed out they had tried emailing questions or refund requests in the past and never received a reply.
After that, things eventually quieted down for a time. A number of official statements followed on ADS's website between August and October. Echoes was again delayed past September, but many backers had given up caring anyway. The CEO/Creative Director lamented the negativity of Echoes backers, admitted they had made mistakes and stated they would have been homeless if they hadn't started working on TTEOTS. These statements again riled up the posters in the Steam forums for both MDSOA and Echoes, and there were several critical responses to these statements on Kickstarter, but also several supportive responses too. In October they stated Echoes is 80% finished and offered a vague release date of "before the end of the year [2018]".
Come December this began to look increasingly unlikely, and on top of that TTEOTS fans began to grow concerned about the schedule slip and silence regarding Chapter 4 of TTEOTS which was originally scheduled for September, then November, and is still unreleased as of this post (tweet compilations: one, two). While December 2018 had originally been slated as the completion date for TTEOTS, the devs had since announced they planned to continue the game indefinitely in seasons. Echoes backers clearly felt that history was repeating itself for a different group of fans. However, TTEOTS fans appear to mostly still believe in the developers, and some have tweeted defending the devs and urging people not to pressure them for updates.
After a long silence, the CEO of ADS posted a personal blog in mid-December stating that she had struggled to focus on her work ever since a BTS member sustained a minor injury in October that affected his mental state (for reference, "MAMA 2018" refers to Mnet Asian Music Awards, which mainly features Kpop artists, and where BTS won several major awards this year). The post expounded on her many worries about the mental and physical health of BTS members and the effect they had had on her life.
Finally, there was a year-end update on the 24th, pushing back Echoes once again to 2019 and placing blame for the delays on the staff she selected to work on it. Echoes backers were incredulous. Most expressed sympathy for these employees, their consensus being that the CEO had essentially dumped her mess on people with less experience, not given them sufficient help and supervision, and thrown them under the bus to avoid taking responsibility herself. No date was given for future TTEOTS content and she described wanting to "focus less on ADS and more on other solo projects" in 2019.
It is currently unknown if any further legal action will be taken by BigHit, but the development of the amended version of TTEOTS will supposedly continue and the devs' website still contains a link in the navbar to their petition for BTS to officially recognise the game.
Threads on /r/otomegames from backers: one, two
ADS's CEO's thoughts on the creator-fan relationship
Tl;dr (even the tl;dr is long, sorry)
Indie dev studio releases niche game in installments using 3 Kickstarters to fund the 5 routes, a DLC and a sequel. Total funding for all: $24k+, plus preorders, Patreon, & Paypal donations
Developers use copyright strikes to take down two negative Youtube videos about the game, generating a censorship backlash, but revoke the strikes soon after
Continual delays & increasingly long silences about progress. The final DLC was over a year late, the sequel is not out yet (approaching 2 years late) & will be shorter than promised
Backers report extreme difficulty getting refunds, ignored emails & not receiving certain Kickstarter rewards. Irate backers feel valid criticism is being stifled by devs and devs are playing victim
During the Mystic Destinies delays, devs began pouring efforts into a free BTS fan game and running numerous social media and crowdfunding campaigns. Funding: $40k+ for the game, $3.5k+ for a novel, $600+ for a gift project, plus Patreon & Paypal donations, revenues from a graphic novel and...
...a premium version of the game is launched in May 2018 with a $9.99 season pass or smaller microtransactions
In August 2018 devs announce they received a cease and desist from BTS's agency and have to hire lawyers, remove all reference to BTS and send financial records to the agency. Angry ex-fans are delighted, some BTS fans abandon the game, others staunchly support the devs.
As of December 2018, development on the formerly BTS-based game has hit delays and long silences but TTEOTS fans remain mostly supportive, the long-delayed MD sequel is delayed again to 2019 with delays blamed on inexperienced employees, Mystic Destinies backers look on with exhaustion and hopelessness.
