Limit Theory was funded on Kickstarter in 2012 to the tune of nearly $190K USD, back in the days when the crowd was funding all sorts of different games and the platform was enjoying its peak years in terms of video games (it's still the go-to platform for board games and plenty of video games still do OK, it's just not quite the same as it once was).
Now, six years after the game was funded, solo developer Josh Parnell has cancelled its development and issued a heartfelt apology to his backers.
"After six years, I am finally at the end of my means," he writes. "Financially, I am beyond the initial investment and have exhausted most of my personal savings. But significantly more troubling is that I am entirely out of energy -- emotionally, mentally, even physically. Every year that passes sees me becoming more desperate to make good on the dream with which you all entrusted me, but each such year I grow less and less capable of doing so as my mindset falls further away from that bright, beautiful hope that powered me from the beginning. I am not what I once was."
Apparently, the game was still "frighteningly far from feature completion" despite good recent progress, with Parnell admitting that he had bitten much more than he could chew.
"No matter how hard I try, it's not enough to bring LT to fruition, and this pattern of failure has evicted all self-confidence and hope from my mind, leaving only doubt, anxiety, and despair. Some days I think to myself "how absurd that a game should make me feel this way," and I realize just how unfit I have become to build a source of joy. I wanted so, so badly to make you all proud. To bring you all joy. There are no words to properly convey how sorry I am that I have failed you all."
Parnell is going to release the source code, and while he doesn't "imagine it will be of any use to anyone, other than as a monument to a failed dream," he acknowledges that it's the best he can do as he looks to pull himself out a negative spiral and take better care of his health.
"One last time, I would like to thank everyone who contributed. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for believing in Limit Theory. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to try for something wonderful. One last time, I am so sincerely sorry for having let you down. I hope, at the very least, that some of you have enjoyed the ride as I've pitted my brain over the years against one challenge after the next."
Despite being braced for a negative response, the majority of feedback from backers has been rather touching, most of whom back these kinds of ambitious projects fully aware that some of them may never see the light of day. Such are the risks of crowdfunding.