[Update – November 9 @ 12:00 PM ET]: This was missed, but shortly following the announcement of the Scorn delay to 2022, the CEO of Ebb Software, Ljubomir Peklar, apologized for the harsh message in the development update. Peklar wrote: “I take full responsibility for the last update that you received from our KS yesterday. I quickly and haphazardly read through the draft of the update and in all my wisdom approved it. Reading through again it was clear that the hostile tone it was written in should not be how we should express ideas or plans to people that help us out.  We may be tired, confused and frustrated at our own ineptitude, but there is no reason to lash out at you. For that I personally apologise. I will do my best for this kind of outburst not to happen again.”
The original article, published on November 9, is as follows.
Fans who are excited about the upcoming horror shooter Scorn, have some bad news coming their way. They may feel particularly scornful, as the Kickstarter-backed Scorn has been delayed once again, this time into 2022. But, it’s not just the fans feeling the scorn today. The tone of the developer took a bit of a turn in its latest update. A dose of defensiveness plagued the update post, as fans sounded off in the comments asking for refunds. The Kickstarter message is undeniably a mess, but it’s best to read some of the harshest parts of the update for yourself:
“There is a reason why big companies show CG trailers done by some other studio,” the creator wrote. “They don’t want to interrupt the development team in the middle of production. CD Projekt RED had great PR for Cyberpunk 2077 but that didn’t help the final game. Cyberpunk 2077 should’ve been delayed for a year, but the hype and the pressure from shareholders were more important. Maybe if they didn’t push their developers to create marketing content they could’ve put more time into fixing the game.”
A scornful update
The developer also blamed hype, saying “We think that creating a good game should receive the overwhelming majority of our attention, rather than trying to constantly keep the marketing flames going.” Aside from bizarrely focusing on another game’s marketing strategy, the most brutal line from the developer came at the end:
“And for the end, a bit of friendly advice: If lack of communication is so bothersome just ask for a refund and be done with it.”
Indeed, the fans in the comments are almost entirely negative, with waves of posts asking for refunds. Truthfully, writing such a hostile update is likely not the best way to keep fans on board. You can read the full update on the Scorn Kickstarter page here, with details about the unfortunate delay into 2022.
