People who backed Homeworld 3 on crowdfunding platform Fig won't have the chance to invest in the game and receive profit shares.
That's according to the service, which emailed users – as posted on Reddit – saying that due to "recent changes at Gearbox" it is no longer letting people invest in the project. Speaking to GI.biz, Fig CEO Justin Bailey has confirmed that this message is accurate, too.
The crowdfunding platform lets users put money into a project during an initial campaign, with the option for them to later invest in shares of the game. From this, consumers can receive part of a title's profits.
The "recent changes at Gearbox" is likely a reference to the company being acquired in a deal worth $1.3 billion by European publishing giant Embracer Group. Previously firms who had titles on Fig and were later bought by big companies – such as Double Fine's Psychonauts 2 and Wasteland 3 from InXile, both of whom were acquired by Microsoft – led to payouts to consumers.
"Those opportunities paid handsomely to investors," Bailey explained.
"The difference between those and Homeworld 3/Gearbox is that those reservations were collected in advance of the acquisition. We went through the reservations process and then opened up and concluded the investment process. In the case of Homeworld 3 and Gearbox, the acquisition took place after the reservation process but before the investment process."