Oath
Setting: Fantasy / MMORPG | Developer: Ready Up Studios | Platform: PC | Status: Cancelled | Year of Campaign: 2019 | Money via Kickstarter: $67,749 | Backers: 971
Oath is a hardcore sandbox MMORPG developed by a 5-man indie studio using Unreal Engine 4 and the Spatial OS technology . The developers promised fast, action-packed combat, 7 classes, dungeons and raids, guild wars, and a free-to-play model.
In the following years, however, the studio behind the project drew attention for other reasons. For instance, because they drove an indie studio they had hired to closure, or because they threatened lawsuits and copyright complaints against content creators (via YouTube). Today, there is no trace of the game or its developers. And of the money.
The Wagadu Chronicles
Setting: Fantasy / MMORPG | Developer: Twin Drums | Platform: PC | Status: Offline | Year of Campaign: 2020 | Money via Kickstarter: €163,910 | Backers: 2,659
“The Wagadu Chronicles” was to be created in Berlin and Ghana and become an “Afrofantasy” MMORPG. It raised over €160,000 on Kickstarter, and the regional funding from the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg supported it with €175,000.
The goal was to create a representative of the genre that heavily emphasized role-playing elements like in pen-and-paper RPGs, focusing on player interactions. The developers also aimed to provide detailed lore and introduce features like a free class system or a player-driven economy.
The early access launch on December 4, 2023 was sluggish. At its peak, it reached 36 simultaneous players. After January 2024, a maximum of 8 players were online at the same time, but most of the time there was only one or none.
On May 8, the studio Twin Drums confessed that there would not be as many updates in 2024 as in previous years. In the last months, they struggled to stay financially afloat. But despite their best efforts, they are now at the end. Even before the final release, the servers went offline. For more information on this, you can find it here: Berlin supports MMORPG with €175,000 – It fails on Steam and dies before release
