The video game world is in something of a golden age of fantastic horror titles, from AAA favorites to indie installments by new studios. It seems that horror gaming is alive and well especially with the likes of Resident Evil Village, plus Bloober Team's The Medium and the upcoming Outlast Trials. However, despite horror fans being blessed with such content, there is one yet-to-be-released title that is causing some headaches among backers, namely Scorn. The situation got to the point where a statement was made, and since then, the game's director has issued an apology.
When it was announced that the Giger-inspired psychological horror game Scorn would be delayed until 2022, a statement was posted to the Kickstarter page, with some backers feeling the message was "hostile," especially towards those who have helped to fund the project. Recently, creative director Ljubomir Peklar issued another statement, in which he fully accepted responsibility for the "outburst" in which the previous update insisted that fans could ask for a refund and "be done with it," concluding that it was "just a game," which many have taken umbrage at.
Since then, Peklar issued the apology, adding that he "haphazardly" approved the message at the time, but now realizes the tone of it could easily have been interpreted as "hostile." Going off one of the comments under this post, it does seem that Scorn backers are still eligible for a full refund, and while the previous update has been received negatively, it does look like Peklar, speaking on behalf of the studio, Ebb Software, regrets how it came across. This latest statement, a much shorter one than the previous diatribe, ends by saying that the team will do what it can to address recently "raised concerns" from the community.
Scorn was originally announced in 2016, and the last details fans received was a trailer launched a year ago. With that, it's understandable that those who have been waiting for development news would be upset by the outburst. However, going forward, it seems as though the studio will endeavor to keep fans in the loop.
With its H.R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński influences, the game sounds like it could be similar to the erotically charged Lust for Darkness, and its sequel Lust From Beyond. It is good that Peklar did issue an apology, with him initially insisting that he didn't want Scorn to have the same fate as Cyberpunk 2077, but there will probably be a number of backers who have been put off by the initial outburst.
Scorn is coming to the PC and Xbox Series X in 2022.
Source: Kickstarter