Death Inc. developers Ambient Studios fall foul of the reaper

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Kickstarter is a place where new hopes are first heard and old dreams finally realised, but for many it’s also the last ditch along the road to financial ruin; a place where brave pitches just barely mask the scent of desperation. In the case of anti-RTS Death Inc., we had really no idea quite how closely the vultures were watching developers Ambient Studios.

“It’s time for a sad announcement,” wrote studio director Jonny Hopper in a statement. “Ambient is shutting its doors.”

“It’s been an amazing ride and we’ve produced some amazing products like Monster Meltdown and Death Inc. We’re super proud of what we achieved, but ultimately we didn’t manage to make enough money to keep the wolves from the door. And so we had to make the difficult decision that it is no longer feasible for Ambient to continue operating.

“Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement along the way,” he added. “We’ve got no regrets and have loved every minute of it.”

Only two weeks ago, Ambient launched a tiered pre-order program for Death Inc. which offered instant alpha access to the pro-plague strategy game.

“Obviously we cannot deliver on the commitments we made in the various Death Inc. alpha tiers,” said Hopper. “If you’re one of the alpha backers, don’t worry – we will be issuing full refunds so you will not be in any way out of pocket.”

Death Inc. had fallen some $180,000 short of its Kickstarter goal at the beginning of March, despite some wayward central ideas and a wicked sense of humour that would see players work as consultants for “outsourced soul aggregation and bespoke mortality solutions”.

We wish its UK-based indie crew all the best in their future endeavours.