Chicken Wiggle Workshop Unlikely To Be Released On Switch This Year

This is upsetting news to me but I should have seen it coming. How many Kickstarters does this happen to? It's really not a major surprise that yet another Kickstarter has been delayed into oblivion.

I thought it would be different. This one has Jools, who seems like a great guy and makes really fun little (and some bigger with Renegade Kid) games so I decided to make it my first supported Kickstarter. Even this morning when I woke up and saw there was an update email I had hope it was good news. But here we are.

Look, I only gave $10 so it's not the end of the world. It's more like a sacrifice of 1 Burrito and Coke. I'm way more frustrated about the Animal Crossing delay because they have a powerhouse company with seemingly endless funds behind them. But it is still very disappointing to me. First it was promised by December 2018, then sometime in late 2019.....Now? Maybe 2020? Who knows anymore.

At this point I'm no longer 100% confident this game will come out. I like to think it will but who knows anymore? Jools/Atooi was up there with the SteamWorld and Shovel Knight guys as my favorite indie dev. And to think, I probably still would have supported, and all this could have been avoided, if he just told us from the start it might take a really long time to make this game.

All that good will is now gone.

Oh no! How can I go on without chicken little!? Wait... Chicken WIGGLE.... Then I don't give a damn.

I was thinking about this the other day actually and I think that this is ultimately the smartest move they could make from a success point of view. Super Mario Maker 2 just came out, and most people’s level-creating itch will have been scratched for quite a few months. If Chicken Wiggle wants to be a viable competitor it has to wait it out anyways, and taking more time for the game to be properly developed with care will make the game be even more successful anyways.

@Deku-Scrub This is a really good point but even as disappointed/upset as I am with Jools and Atooi right now I refuse to let myself believe he would care so little about his backers that he would stoop to such a lowlife move like that.

@JHDK Waiting for an anticipated game to come out, especially in the face of one or more unexpected delays, can definitely be frustrating, but if we actually have any respect for the people that make these games then we have to respect that they're working as hard as they can to make these games a reality and that they hate delays just as much as we do. We also have to respect that it's not a good or healthy thing for these people to overwork themselves just so we can have a silly video game a bit sooner.

@Donald_M I hear ya, but it really rubs me the wrong way when someone I respect promises something, asks for my money to help with that promise, then goes back on his word.

Then goes back on his word again!

I Kickstarted this and I’m fine with the delay. I’ll happily wait longer if it means a better game. In the meantime I’ll just tackle something in my overwhelming backlog.

@JHDK It's a small team trying to make the best game they can. Good games take a long time to make, especially indie games and for good, easily understandable reasons. Nobody "went back on their word". I would assume you've been a gamer long enough to realize that any release date from anyone is, until the game is actually completed, nothing more than a wishful placeholder.

A solution here would be for developers just to not give a release date on games until they can actually be sure it's realistic, but we know that's never gonna happen. In the case of stuff funded on Kickstarter, I think giving a date when the project is expected to delivered is a requirement and it's easy to see how a developer can underestimate how long a project will take if it's just begun or hasn't begun yet.

@Donald_M Ok there is a lot in that post so I'll go point-by-point.

1.) "It's a small team trying to make the best game they can."

These aren't amateurs. They have made plenty of games in the past. THEY ALREADY MADE THIS GAME. I had hoped they would know enough to put together an even somewhat in the ballpark estimate of how long they needed to make the new version.

2.) "Nobody "went back on their word".

Nobody forced Jools to put December 2018 on his Kickstarter page as the release date. At this point I believe he did it with malicious intent...knowing he would never make that deadline and posting it anyway to get more supporters. And certainly nobody forced him TO DO IT AGAIN after he missed the OG release date.

3.) "Games get delayed all the time."

Yea, tons of bad things happen all the time. Just because something happens a lot doesn't make it right, or moral.

4.) "A solution here would be for developers just to not give a release date on games until they can actually be sure it's realistic"

!!!THIS!!!
I 100% agree with this!

@JHDK I deleted the "flip out" bit because I'm trying to see your perspective and not start a fight, but I guess you saw it before I did. Fair enough.

Anyway, for various reason we're always gonna get release dates long before we reasonably should and in many cases they'll prove to be incorrect. I'm with you on wishing developers wouldn't give release dates until they could be sure of them though, or would at least try to keep them realistic.

In the case of Kickstarter, as I said, I'm pretty sure you have to give a date when the project is expected to be delivered by, but I also see that the Chicken Wiggle team gave themselves less than a year to deliver the game after funding and anyone could see there was a high chance of that not working out. I think some developers fear that if they admit a game will likely take a long time to release people won't back it and, to be fair, to some extent they're probably right. More often though I think developers really do just underestimate how long a job is going to take, especially if they're used to working with a bigger team or more resources and then move into crowdfunded indie development.

@BacklogBlues Wait was this not the thread for Half Life 3? Dang it.

@Donald_M I'm upset with Jools/Atooi but not with you. I hear your points.

I think a lot of it boils down to this was the first time I supported a Kickstarter and it was created by someone I really respected.

Why are people acting like this is another Kickstarter disaster? The Chicken Wiggle developers have put out a few games in the series already. They have a perfectly fine track record of delivering the games they promise, so they are not ones to start Kickstarter scams. On top of that, they actually gave a huge explanation for what's going on and the development process that has lead to it. Rather than doing what other kickstarters do and sit quietly for months until finally giving out a 2 sentence reason for why their games being delayed. You can trust these developers, they just need a bit more time.

This always frustrates me! Get the game done based on what you originally promised. Then, do what you want with "additional scope" through DLC or free updates. Rubbish!

but it's so cute. lol

A free code for the existing 3DS version, sent out to all previous backers would have been nice to make up for the delay, and to tide us over until then...

And people ask why I don't like buying into kickstarters. If I buy something, I want more than a promise of an eventual product, someday.

It will come out when it's ready. No reason to be dramatic about it, game development takes time.

@90sRetroGaming That wouldn't be a good decision at all, as it would cost them quite a bit of money. They should put every dollar they got from Kickstarter in development of the Chicken Wiggle Workshop. It's expensive enough project already, and that is the reason why they have also needed to work on other projects at the same time.

Nobody likes a delay, but Chicken Wiggle was already a great game on 3DS so it should be great on Switch as well. Hopefully, the gaps in communication shrink. I'm pleasantly surprised, and excited, about stretch goals being added.

Sounds about right. Jools games never release on time.