The MMO RAW aimed to become a sort of GTA 5 in a huge online world. However, after a failed Kickstarter campaign, the game fell silent. What’s the situation with RAW at the beginning of 2020?
What is RAW? It is a GTA-like MMO from a German indie development studio called Killerwhale Games. Essentially, you should live in a sandbox that gives you plenty of opportunities to unleash your creativity in various ways.
- You can buy land and build houses on it. You can even buy islands.
- You may also open shops and sell products to other players.
- Generally, RAW is supposed to resemble real life. You have to go to work, earn a living, and use your money to expand your apartment or house.
- You can even take on missions from other players, for example, transporting goods by truck from point A to point B.
- If you want, you can become the mayor of a city.
- It’s even possible to be a gangster and plan heists.
Already Trouble with the Kickstarter Campaign
What happened? RAW was supposed to be funded through a Kickstarter campaign last summer. A total of 171,700 euros was raised from around 4,000 supporters (70,000 euros were desired), before Kickstarter ended the campaign prematurely. The campaign would have actually been successful; the players’ interest was there. However, due to the cancellation, the developers received no money.
Allegedly, the campaign violated the user rules. The team behind the game was completely taken aback by this, as there was no warning and initially no real explanation from Kickstarter.
Later, it was said that the campaign was shut down because the developers stated during it that they couldn’t complete the game with the funds raised. Kickstarter requires that projects can be completed with the income. Furthermore, there were complaints about the project.
Why were there complaints? Doubts arose about whether a small indie studio with so little money could handle such a complex and extensive project. Discrepancies in the imprint made the supporters skeptical.
When a rather nasty letter from the developers followed a visit from the PC Games editorial office to the studio’s house, the complaints multiplied.
Additionally, the trailer displayed purchased assets from the site Turbosquid, which aren’t actually allowed to be used for games with virtual worlds.
What is the current situation with the MMO? After the premature end of the Kickstarter campaign, the developers stated they are preparing funding through the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. However, this has not yet been launched.
At the moment, there is no sign of life from RAW. However, the website is still active. The community is expressing some angry words, and the accusations of fraud are not subsiding.
There is a Communication Blackout
Here’s what happened last: At the end of October last year, a Discord channel was started, to which the developers invited fans. However, there has been no further information about the game since then.
Also, there is no response to community questions, as can be seen on Twitter. The Facebook page of Killerwhale Games has not been updated since July 18.
What are the major problems? The project seems too big for a small indie team with limited financial resources. This, combined with the fact that Kickstarter ended the campaign and allegations of fraud arose, paints a particularly poor picture regarding the development of RAW.
The developers’ silence contributes to escalating emotions further. It would be important for the team to comment on the current situation.
What’s next: It’s very difficult to say at the moment. It is quite possible that the developers are quietly continuing to work on RAW, to eventually show something that blows everyone away. However, without funding, this seems unlikely.
Similarly, it’s also possible that the project has been canceled after everything that has happened. Given the communication blackout, one should not have high hopes of hearing anything from RAW again. But who knows, perhaps a surprise awaits us…
