PlatinumGames Addresses Wonderful 101 Kickstarter Custom Fees, And Backers Aren't Happy

Yet another case of 'small text wins again'

Sounds very shady when a bigger software developer like Platinum Games goes down this funding route, as it's usually the domain of smaller indie developers.

As the article says it was not about raising money for the project, but this is sure to leave a nasty taste in the mouth of the backers from the U.K.

Yeah this whole kickstarter seemed very suspicious from the start. I might be wrong but I thought they said they had enough money to make the switch port be4 the kickstarter. They stole money.

Like I said day one this all smelled bad. Happy for those that wanted the game on the Switch but this game was coming regardless of the kickstarter.

Why are people commenting about the "fine print"? The article states that, despite Platinum Games saying it was there, said fine print was not even there when most people pledged their support. It isn't that people didn't read the fine print, but that it wasn't there to begin with. That's why people are even more mad now.

Kickstarter should not be for big companies that can completely finance projects on their own. It's a bit dispacable. Kickstarter should only be accessible for small companies/individuals who don't have funding and can't fund projects themselves. It's supposed to "Kick-Start" something. Not to "Give more profit".

Much as I love Platinum and Wonderful 101...this isn’t a good look. A lot of the support for this game from passionate fans of the game and Platinum, and a lot of them are getting screwed over.

I still love them, and I got my game with no issues and expect the same will happen with my merch but...maybe there could’ve been a better way to do this.

Remember when everyone on here loved Platinum because they made a few games exclusively for Nintendo.

I'm still worried that because the physical rewards are gonna be sent seperately rather than all in one go with the game we're gonna end up paying two lots of customs charges.

My experience with UK Custom charges has been unpredictable at best, there's no saying when you will have to pay a ransom for your own parcels. It sucks but we have to deal with it.

I think the Wonderful 101's Kickstarter has been shady from the start. It was almost completed and they would have got enough money from Tencent to do it alone. Hopefully these disasters put them off doing it again.

After my experience with this Kickstarter I can’t say I’ll ever back anything there ever again.

Platinum probably got way more bad PR than good from this Kickstarter... Probably not what they were going for. It has turned me off from buying anything by them and I imagine many others.

Platinum arrogance.

how can Platinum be responsible for the actions of another's country lol. take it up with the govn'r if you mad, once upon a time someone threw some tea in the ocean for just this reason.

That fine print wasn’t there when I backed this.

Respect to Nintendo Life for reporting on this news.

I'm not even going to say anything else about this lol. Already left my comment on the Kickstarter page update.

@kepsux Awesome dude!

That was almost as funny as America’s (lack of) holiday entitlement and maternity leave, elitist healthcare system and resorting to prayers after every mass shooting rather than actually doing something about it!

Although the fine print wasn't there at first, Platinum Games are based in Japan so it stood to reason that items would be shipped from there. Anything sent into the UK from outside the EU is subject to legally enforceable customs fees.

That it subsequently came from the US makes no difference whatsoever, customs charges would have happened had they been sent from Japan.

This is a 'risk' with any Kickstarter, as unlike most e-commerce platforms, it's not always entirely clear where the goods will be physically shipped from.

Not their problem.

I bought the Okami Album from DataDisc. Had them ship it to the US from the UK.

https://data-discs.com/products/okami?variant=12539388231765

I got a yellow card saying I needed to pay duty fees instead of my package. Went to the PostOffice. Talked to them and at the end they let me have it.

None of that is on the DataDisc FAQ for it. How would they know? This is not "Kickstarter" it is anything you importing from another country you run the risk of getting stop at customs.

This game is worth £20-£30 of my money, max. Shocking that people have ended up paying 2-3 times that amount. There's not many games I can think of that deserve £60, and this definitely isn't one of them.

You get what you [BLEEP] deserve!

@ukaskew the fine print wasn’t there.

Platinum should’ve shipped all the games to a European hub and then dispatched to all backers from there. Without the fine print saying otherwise, that’s what I thought they’d do and was why I backed this Kickstarter.

It also wasn’t clear at that point that it would also be available at retail very soon afterwards. (This was before Covid-19 cropped up and caused a delay which somehow didn’t seem to affect the retail copies!)

What Platinum did was dishonest and / or incompetent.

@Agramonte when you bought that Okami album, it was the only way for you to buy it.

This Kickstarter wasn't the only way to buy the game and everyone could have opted to buy (cheaper) retail, without import fees, if they had known better.

Furthermore, Platinum could have paid a UK retailer to ship the copies to UK backers, from within the UK, without having to pay customs fees. They could have made an agreement with Game UK where they would have paid Game UK for each copy of each backer. Simple.

When you think Covid-19 is making international shipping difficult, it makes you think why Platinum decided to add further strain to the system by shipping I don't know how many thousand copies individually from the US to Europe.

This was a a choice of games they gave everyone with a Wii u for free in the uk. Good times

@Julien declaring it as a gift would be defrauding HMRC, and...fun fact...under customs law the importer (i.e. you) is legally responsible for the information declared.

None of this changes the fact that the NintendoLife article is factually incorrect. The fees have NOTHING to do with them shipping the goods to the US first.

@RazumikhinPG

And you think the UK retailer is going to agree to do that for free? The retailer needs to get payed.

And not "all backers" had this issue. So you talking for them to organize this per country. Nobody will do that.

Anyone who backed the Kickstarter was to back the game. I could have gotten Shenmue 3 for $5 when it hit retail. That has nothing to do with my pledge.

@ukaskew not necessarily a fraud. You backed the project, which doesn't mean you bought a product. It's similar to charity.
Receiving a product isn't necessarily what you paid for, as they aren't a shop. So any items you received can technically be considered gifts.

@Agramonte I think you missed the part where I said Platinum would pay for each copy that Game UK ships. They would pay Game, that's how the retailer would be paid. Not sure how this is confusing.

@ukaskew Removed my gift declaration comment as that’s a fair point and updated the rest of my post for clarification.

The fees are due to Platinum being clueless.

Anyway, fingers burnt and lesson learnt. Will only back British-based (non-Playtonic) projects in future.

I STILL haven't gotten my copy. In fact I just found out that the survey I filled out a month ago NEVER SAVED and so I just now had to REDO their "survey" just so that they can finally ship me my damn copy....how did they screw this up so badly???

Edit: I'm in the U.S. btw

@Bizzyb I’m not sure I even received the second survey where they ask you to specify which platform as they forgot to include this the first time!

The latest update gave vague directions where to find it rather than simply providing a link.

@kepsux Are you able to read about the missing small print issue?

@RazumikhinPG customs duties are calculated on value and can take into account many factors if the specific item does not have a specific cost attached (for example they should next use the value of identical or equivalent goods), there really is no wiggle room for sending it as a gift legally in these circumstances.

Yes, the plans were available for anyone to see. I had to go to the Planning Office's basement with a torch because they had no lights and I saw that the staircase had been removed.

Were refunds possible after the text was added? If so, that's that. I refunded my Yooka-Laylee backing once I saw where the story was going as well as the minecart.

And on top of that, the game doesn’t run so hot. Please fix this game, and I don’t mean knock it down to 720p for a 5fps increase. 900p 50fps minimum. (Though I still believe better is possible on Switch.)

@ukaskew fair enough, from all I've learned about custom taxes it's mostly a convoluted antiquated system that feels more like an obstacle to an ever growing global world.
It also somehow doesn't apply to digital sales, as the Steam code they sent wasn't subject to import taxes lol

Do you want to get bad publicity? 'Cause this is how you get bad publicity.

Wow, can't believe the company would do such a shady thing. Adding the info in way later and then blame people for not reading...I can't belive what I'm reading.

I’m confused why UK people expect not to pay import duties when ordering from countries outside the EU?

Also this article suggests it’s only because they shipped from the US. Would import duties not also be due if they shipped from Japan or China? I’m pretty sure you do.

I know a lot of companies let you pay for this in advance, so you can avoid the annoying additional admin fee that Royal Mail often charge you. This should me something Kickstarter offers.

@RazumikhinPG It is not the shipping cost.

GAME is not going to have a bulk shipment show up to their warehouse and have their paid staff do any work for Platinum for free.

It is more logical that you would expect UK duty fees on something you are importing - than all that happening for a Kickstarter pledge.

@ROBLOGNICK I appreciate how you solve the issue. It's the same with Amazon JP. Everytime you order from Amazon Japan you pay a tiny fee that means the item won't be stuck at customs and you won't have to pay customs. That's why I normally always buy from Amazon Japan.

@ROBLOGNICK NL appear to have just copied the complaints of backers without fact checking it (takes all of 20 seconds to find and read the gov.uk page). Goods shipped from anywhere outside the EU are subject to the same fees. The fact that were sent to the US before being shipped to the UK makes no difference whatsoever, the same fees would have applied if Platinum had shipped direct from Japan.

@Agramonte so you really can't visualize a concept where Platinum for example buys vouchers from retail shops and gives those vouchers to backers to exchange for the game? I dunno, it seems like you're claiming this is complicated and I don't see how so.

Lazy port, ebegging scumbags, lack consumer support, yeap PlatinumGames is now officially part of the shady business club. If this doesn't tell you what kind of scumbags they really are nothing will and these guys originate from that pile of puke that was Crapcom. It seems like they took what's worst from Crapcom and throw it at their own fans now.

Companies can pre-pay customs fees.

Customs fees are a thing. get used to it.

This is technically something they can’t control, but the whole experience hasn’t been positive for me.

The cool 3D visual slip case cheered me up a bit at least.

I totally expected to pay import fees. I’m importing a game, of course I am!

That’s why I got the digital version.

I don’t understand some people! Complain about anything

Glad I didn't back it, but feel sorry for those who did. Got my retail copy today.

How stupid can people get? If you ship something from outside of your country (or region, as shipping within the EU should not add additional taxes) to you need to pay VAT and handling cost of the shipment. This is nothing new.

Wow platinum resepect for you just went from 100% to 0 you scum bags. Just admit your mistake refund people and move on

@PixelTavern what is their mistake? The required import fees you are required to pay when you import something? No, that's for the person receiving the package.

I really want to nuy this game when its launched nut am thinking twice just because of the way backers have been treated. Do i really want to give platinum my money this time round 🤔

Cost me £15.82 customs charge,so near enough £50 total for a game I already own on the WiiU and that I could have had months ago and for much cheaper from any online store. Pretty much a ***** show all round,especially when you consider the port isn't that great either and the worst of all versions. I'll still play it but it may not be for a while now

@sanderev they never stated they would be shipping from america. Games for the uk come from Germany. Considering the project didnt state this when people backed it they have broken kickstarter rules and falsely advertised the product. They added details at the bottom of the FAQ several weeks after it was backed.

@sanderev you're so smart but don't even know companies can pay custom fees before shipping. Everyone else is just stupid, but not you.

@RazumikhinPG Yes they can, but they are not required to. This is called an import fee deposit, and usually it's a way for a company to collect import fees beforehand. For instance Amazon and Play-Asia offer these services.

@PixelTavern If they didn't state where they ship from, it's up to you to find where they are located and calculate what shipping from there will cost you. You as consumer are responsible.

Please don't pull a fallout 76.

I don’t get why the need a clause in the backer T&Cs anyway. It’s nothing to do with them.
If you’re buying stuff some outside the country in which you’d normally pay a tax for the item then customs will charge you. It’s basic knowledge for your average citizen.

Kickstarter should not have to spell out the rules of living in your own country.

Like I said before though, they could arrange to pay the custom fees or charge you the custom fees in advance. But that’s more work for them. Not every retailer does this either so I can only assume it’s not the easiest of things to manage.

People are mad because the pledge said "includes all postage costs, fees and taxes" it is reasonable to expect import fees to be covered. It was only after the campaign started were the FAQs updated but no notifications were sent to say this was a thing. The opportunity wasn't there to make provisions or cancel based on the new information.

That aside, I've imported things from all over the world at higher values and not paid import tax. It seems that people are having this issue because the paperwork wasn't completed properly and incurring admin fees to correct.

I have had to pay ridiculous import fees on records, etc. I don't see how 15-17 pounds is a huge deal. I see the point indicated above that all postage costs would be covered...but I really do think that everyone kind of has their panties in a bunch here.

Dis unite up... Badly played.

I backed for a physical copy and key ring, mostly because I wanted the key ring. My physical copy of the game is still in transit, despite getting a shipping notice in early-mid June. I expect to be hit by customs fees, and probably again when they ship the keyring.

This isn't a kickstarter issue though, it's kind of a Yetee issue, kind of a Platinum issue. I've backed a lot of board games from all over the world on Kickstarter, and they've all arrived with no customs fees and in good time. Why? Because they have all used multiple distributors for each region. Yetee is great for some regions and I'm not wishing to belittle them or their work, but I've ordered tees from them in the past and been stung by customs fees each time, they have no EU warehouses or distribution centres. At least they didn't when I ordered those t-shirts and evidence suggests they don't now.
They should not have been chosen as the distribution partner for the EU (and any other area currently suffering from this), another company should have and import fees could have been taken on at a much higher level and absorbed into the postage fees at a much smaller price.
Platinum should have sourced a distributor for each region and the Yetee shouldn't have taken on the distribution contracts for certain areas knowing they would provide a service that ultimately upset customers for Platinum.

@arekdougy I suspect a lot of "gamers are angry" scenarios come from young people experiencing how the world works for the first time. Import customs fees, low trade in values, game stores pressuring customers to sign up for memberships with convoluted rewards programs, games that sound too good to be true ending up not that good... These things are nearly universal in life outside the gaming world.

This is an ideal opportunity for ailing British game retailers to distribute more niche products to UK audiences, I reckon.

@theJGG not even!
The small print was added many days after the launch, after many had already pledged.

I got my copy Wednesday the 1st of July in total it cost me just over £52 I could of got it weeks ago for less was ment to be getting it before retailers but nope managed to get it our to shops before backers got there copy's yeh I got a cool 3d sleeve but I havnt even stuck it in my switch yet definitely left a sour taste in my mouth shame cause I really enjoyed there games

Platinum is clearly in the wrong and should take responsibility for this mess that way everyone can move on.

@sanderev and you don't feel Platinum could have made that choice and leave all the bakers happy instead of upset? lol

At least I got a lenticular sticker applied haphazardly to the front of a cardboard sleeve along with a slightly damaged case. If I had gone with a normal version I could have at least had recourse for a damaged case. If I moan to Platinum at best it will cost me another £16.32 if they even agree to send me another copy to be charged for! This DLC better be worth it!

I backed it, while I still have the Wii U game and normally don't drop that amount of money on a single game anymore, let alone one I already have on another platform. Still haven't received my copy, when I do I could have already had it way sooner and cheaper, also physical. I'm willing to see import fees as a highway robbery performed by the government, but no company should even consider not writing that possibility in BIG NEON letters. The customers can forget such a thing exists, especially when they usually don't order anything shipped from the other side of the world, and are usually, IF they do, CLEARLY informed that these "lawful" robbers are still very much active, damaging packages passing the borders and telling the receiver to pay up holding the package hostage.

Most people usually back a kickstarter project near the END of the project, so the information would have been there for most people already.

Is it wrong that I laugh at people who fund companies that don't need funding? I mean the game was good but not kickstarter port good. Is a company going to take responsibility for what they did? Nope, they may issue out a letter to explain themselves. I mean I am still waiting for Nintendo to issue me out a set new joy cons that fix the drifting. Thought the general rule of thumb was kickstarter projects always end with backers complaining of not getting things or half assed things. But who am I to tell gamers what they need to do with their money.

@sixrings
And now look what's happening as soon as Nintendo isnˋt involve anymore. 🤷

People need to post their feelings on their IG and Facebook more than sites like these. Let them see the impact because they sure as hell don’t read it here

@MrBlacky Nintendo has no blemishes.... Cough cough joy con drift cough cough

@Agramonte Respectfully, sir or madam, "not my problem" is not an attitude I would tolerate if I were donating to a corporation. (Personally, I'd rather donate time or money to a charity before kickstarting a video game project, but that doesn't make this any better.) Attitude and tone count for something in communication, let alone for a studio that subsists on creating niche titles for a very connected subset of the video game audience.

How would they know? This is not "Kickstarter" it is anything you importing from another country

I cannot argue that people must become aware of customs charges. By the same token, Platinum, as a neophyte publisher, must become aware of the particularities of major markets they hope to ship to. Assuming they want to succeed...

@ritouf Did the Kickstarter page accept donations in GBP specifically? If Kickstarter and Platinum are able to distinguish currencies, they should have been smart and diligent enough to learn something about UK and EU customs.

I think the thing that most people are taking umbrage with is that they backed it for early copies which isn't what they got. Paying a premium for getting the game pretty much the same day as everyone else is a bitter pill to swallow.

Wouldn't fees at customs have been incurred regardless of where the physical copies had come from outside of the UK or EU? How can Platinum control something like that?

@Tyranexx From the outside, it seems like a case of "Gotcha!", and that is going to aggravate people. (I'm playing AGES Shinobi right now, so perhaps I'm particularly sensitive to that feeling right now, haha.) Publishers should include their shipping and customs costs at the time of checkout/donation. If they do not know those charges, or cannot be bothered to include them, it is indeed cluelessness and incompetence as others above have said. Perhaps these are the growing pains of a fledgling publisher - but if so, they need better PR than this to build an audience.

As a UK backer I'm still waiting for my physical copy to arrive.. taste gosh I backed this!! and as many others have started I now fully expect to be forked over on additional taxes.

As others have correctly stated at time of backing 3rd of Feb there was no mention of extra costs. That was indeed added to the FAQs on the 12th of Feb. What will be well be I guess, but a massive lesson learnt.

And this is where PG should fess up and pay people back there money. It's a issue their end.

Anyhow, if you're pee'd off now, wait until the other physical gifts arrive later this year with a fresh batch of import costs!!

Kickstarter is a platform for people to drop money into for the privilege of bringing something into existence in the world. Anything offered to the backers in return is just a bonus.

The Wonderful 101 on Switch has become reality. Congratulations, backers, mission accomplished. If you're getting upset about anything beyond that, then you backed the project for all the wrong reasons, and should really stay away from Kickstarter in the future.

It's just not a preorder store.

@sixrings Bayonetta is one of my favorite IPs
And Astral Chain is great
Nier is also amazing

They are definitely great developers, that’s why I love them

It is a sad situation

@sanderev lol no its not. Kickstarter rules state you must inform backers of potential chargers regarding import fees or otherwise. Also IT IS down to the seller to state where they are shipping from. They offered the product to the uk so it should of been clearly stated in the project that import fees would apply. Not hidden in the FAQ and added after they had been backed

And to think that any issues would've been avoided if people had common sense and said "No, I don't need to kickstart a company that just took a boatload of cash from Tencent."

Platinum deliver high-quality, amazing games but they have gotten a bit full of themselves lately. Even their big reveals for 2020 that were supposed to massive didn't really do much. The biggest pops were "Hey, we're working on a new game in addition to the several projects we are already working on and can't show any details on."

I've never seen other retailers list import fees......

@TimboSlice Really? I just got a digital copy, specifically, so I didn't have to deal with posting and waiting around.

@Tyranexx its is partly there fault however platinum selected them to distribute. So kind of both there faults but ultimately platinum were responsible for informing their backers

Platinum really just needs to compensate anyone from the UK who backed this project before the import fee information was added to the FAQ.

It's the right thing to do, from a company that can easily afford to do so. This is an opportunity for them to shine and they're blowing it.

Platinum Games but clearly not Platinum customer service.

I hear Kickstarter and I am immediately turned off sorry x x

Lesson learned, boys! Don't be paying these boys anything anymore

https://help.kickstarter.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005134073-How-do-I-charge-shipping-on-my-rewards-

"-Research international shipping rates

We recommend researching any additional costs or fees involved with shipping items abroad. Take these into account when planning the cost of each reward and shipping it.

-Have you charged your backers the correct amount for shipping?

Will the backer be responsible for covering customs fees associated with shipping their reward abroad? If so, make this clear in the reward description and in your project description."

They should had said it in the description and on the reward page. I didn't get any customs fee here in france but they clearly miscommunicated. And if I'd knew that the game was send from the US I wouldn't had backed the project. I was lucky to not get extra fees but that doesn't change the facts.

I backed the game when the kickstarter went live, I already owned the game on wiiu, it's one of my most played game on it.
The switch port is great on handheld mode, didn't played it on tv mode yet because I like to be able to draw the signs with the joystick and touch screen. Played the steam version and it's good too but I've waited for my switch copy because it's a game you play multiple times to unlock everything. Even with all the problem with kickstarter I'll recommend the game.

Honestly I didn't back it (though I did come close too getting the physical copy) but they should have stated that the items would have been shipped from the US.

And to anyone saying that they are japanese then I can point too bloodstained. Which they were able too ship copies of their game too EU backers within the EU.

@sanderev lol again no its not. How on earth would i find out the information for that? The seller has to display that information and again kickstarter rules state you have to display all potential fees. Platinum made a mistake they need to own up to that. Stop defending dodgy practices this is why companies think they can get away with it because people defend them. I love Platinum, mgs rising, bayonetta, mad world and hell yeah wonderful 101. But this is a kick in the teeth to the people who love them the most. Own up to it, reimburse those people move on. Done and dusted no harm done

@arekdougy Is Kickstarter a retail outfit? Is Platinum Games? If I were being asked to donate and fund something because... (What are people's motivations, anyway?)... because I believed in a project... I think I'd want to know up front what the total cost of my donation would be. When I've given to charity, I've not been asked to pay again when receiving complimentary items, like a key chain. Especially if such is delivered late.

And if, indeed, people have to pay the customs charge twice, because the publisher or distributor can't be bothered to bundle the two items, I wonder if you'll still be defending them in some way.

I suspect a lot of "gamers are angry" scenarios come from young people experiencing how the world works for the first time. Import customs fees, low trade in values... These things are nearly universal in life outside the gaming world.

@TheFox I don't know if you've read all the comments in this thread, but different people have responded point by point to Platinum's failures in failing to update backers to changes in their terms, choosing a distributor on the wrong continent et cetera. Companies failing out of the gate due to incompetence is something one sees "out there" too. Given the arrogance that Platinum has shown this year with their empty "reveals", misuse of Kickstarter, nonchalant response to this issue, and more, I've come to suspect that they're the Japanese equivalent of the toxic fratboy/dudebro studio culture. And this combined with Kamiya's casual xenophobia? Defend them if you like, but this kind of reputational damage is harmful outside the gaming world, too.

Isn't it just wonderful?

I get where they're coming from with this, but I think it's kind of a low blow to expect your backers to pay for shipping after they've already donated. I'm sure the taxes and tariffs are difficult to navigate, but that should be Platinum's problem, not the backers.

Just received my £54 copy and no keychain
Are additional items being sent out at a later date?

If so I’m guessing after paying tax charges of £15 I will have to pay more charges for next delivery.
£69 and counting..

Thought I would help them generate the money they needed as I liked them as a company.
I wouldn’t be so annoyed paying the extra money if I knew I helped them to find this game, but turns out it was just all a joke.

I got screwed on this and due to change in income, I actually can’t afford to pay these duties this month.
I wanted to get it and put it on eBay and hopefully get what I paid for it back but now I’m in the bad situation where I don’t know if I’ll lose all my money - because no one from platinum, the yetee or kickstarter will respond to my emails.
As someone who has bought every platinum game they have released, I feel pretty miserable about all of this and and I’m going to have to not buy their games from now on. For a company that relies so heavily on its core fan base for support of their niche titles, to so willingly treat them with such contempt is terrible in my view.

Sorry, just to clarify: the reason I wanted to sell it on eBay is because I’ve had to sell my switch.

Some great comments on here from people dribbling on their keyboards when they do not have the slightest grasp of the situation.

@SwitchVogel

Paying shipping was included in the price, what wasn't included was any potential customs charges that your home country (UK) might possibly hit you with upon its delivery.

That's not Platinum's problem, that's your own governments decision.

@ROBLOGNICK Okay so why do we not pay customs fees on all games then? Your comment has no logic. They would have thought it would be the same as buying any other game. I am very glad I never backed this game now. What a farce

There is nothing I hate more than raging fanboyism. It blinds people to malpractice, and it is why these companies get away with such practice. I hope the backers become a collective voice and seek legal action.

@CupidStunt My comment has no logic? We would pay custom charges on all games if we purchased them from outside UK or EEA. If you’re in the UK you don’t pay custom charges on games you buy from retailers in the UK because they’ve already been imported and are already in the UK. Are you being stupid on purpose?

But they already payed for the postage cost in the price already, and they add an extra shipping cost and you think that is good practice? Raging fanboyism at its absolute worst.

I was in two minds about backing this, as I have the Wii U version. Seems like the 'on the shelf' version will now actually be cheaper as well as rarer.

@Fath Dude, If you have no idea about the whole story, please don't comment.

Platinum games stated several weeks after the Kickstarter that they actually didn't need the money. So they basically turned it into a pre-order store. I for myself thought I help a company I like to bring back a game I never enjoyed with the benefit of getting a physical copy and getting it earlier.

Guess what? They didn't need my help at all, physical was released for everyone, not just backers and I still don't have my copy (though I don't blame them for the last point).

In total it was poorly planned PR gig that clearly got out of hands and was just not thought through to the end.

@CupidStunt Me? A fanboy? I couldn’t give to sh*ts about this game. I did not buy it, and don’t intend to. What I am raging about is people like you that don’t understand how life works and then blame companies that have nothing to do with it.

The sheer entitlement. The lack of knowledge. Far too much!

Who already paid for postage? Import duty is
NOT postage. You know what VAT is, yes? When you import goods into the UK you bypass VAT and so the GOVERNMENT charge you this for importing something into the UK. The courier company have to declare this and administrate the charges. It is the law.

@PickledKong64 How so? Kickstarter doesn't require that a product require successful kickstarting to use their platform. It's pretty common for companies to use KS to gauge interest, and that isn't a new thing.
I would say they seem to have violated KS's terms by only adding that small ttext after starting.

@COVIDberry What misuse of KS? They definitely screwed up on stating the VAT and such, but I assume you mean something different since you seem to reference that as a seperate issue.

@KillerBOB Doesn't KS require that any uncovered costs be clearly stated? I don't think anyone is saying PG is getting a cut of the VAT.

@mazzel I might've come across a bit callously, but a Kickstarter campaign is first and foremost a donation drive, and for their own peace of mind, people should never donate money to a cause unless they can first and foremost come to grips with that money disappearing without anything to show for it. Not everybody's cut out for the selflessness of charitable donation all the time, and that's ok. I really should've put more blame on Kickstarter itself, and the cottage industry of running its campaigns that's cropped up, for how much that first principle gets lost in glitter and FOMO, but it's also the responsibility of donors not to get distracted by it.

...That said, it's fair for anybody donating to a charity to assume that their contribution will actually go towards performing the charity's work, and it's pretty disingenuous, to put it mildly, for a charity to ask for money that they know they don't have a use for. Kickstarter kind of handles that by having publicly stated target goals that should tell anyone donating past that that they're throwing their money away for no real reason (and the W101 campaign's ludicrously lowball goal of about $50,000 should've been a huge red flag), but even so, I'll agree that Platinum's admission that the campaign wasn't really funding their game was pretty scuzzy.

I think there's room for your particular grievance and my general position to coexist, if I present the latter with a bit more compassion than I might've used at first.

@ROBLOGNICK Not making something clear, or actually in this case at the start, not advising people at all about the extra charge, is malpractice. Stick up for it all you like, but this should have been made clear to those kind people that backed a project, that did not even need backed in the first place.

@HeyItsFlapjack they have no proof it wasn't there or they would be able to get platinum to pay.

@CupidStunt Malpractice. Scream! Have you been watching American courtroom dramas or something?

At worst it’s just bad organisation. And a life lesson for the backers (and Platinum) on how the financial / commerce world works.

It should be part of the standard template for physical rewards on Kickstarter, frankly. I’m more surprised at them than some Japanese company that’s never had to deal with publishing anything themselves before.

@Fath fair enough!
I also honestly went a little blind eyed into that "campaign" because I really like Platinum Games games, therefore I quickly decided to back it. Until the campaign was over I really like all their PR work and so on, only when it came to sending and releasing they hugely messed up. So a campaign that started off nicely ends with a very bitter taste...

@ROBLOGNICK You are completely right in your argumentation. Nevertheless, here comes the BUT:
Taking KS terms into consideration, PG should, no, needed to add at least a reminder like "please be aware that this item will be shipped from US/Japan. Ant additional VAT needs to be covered by the backers. To know the details about VAT in your country, please click HERE".
Not so hard, not so difficult.
Not adding this hint actually shows that PG does not know how the business world works and, even worse, blames this customers for that. Sure, they will not apologize because they might get sued if they confess.
To sum it up: it didn't go well...

When you back anything on kickstarter it does clearly state that import charges may be ab extra factor. Ten pounds of the 17 is nothing more than an added tax by royal mail. They call it a 'handling fee'. I know this because i had to pay it, but i also read the terms at checkout, so however much it pisses me off, i only have myself to blame.

@mazzel it isn't a VAT charge, and it does say there may be extra fees when you checkout on kickstarter.

@YANDMAN I never called it VAT charge, I said additional VAT. As everyone who bought something from abroad knows, sometimes you have to pay it, sometimes not!
The point is, that they did not clearly mention from where they send it. They send a lot to the US so why not do the same with Europe? It's clear that I have to think about import tax if I buy abroad. But the seller need to tell me where I buy from so I actually know I buy from abroad, no?

@sixrings I think people still love P* the developer. They've developed some of the best games these past three console generations. From Madworld, to Bayonetta 2, to Nier Automatta. But, you can criticize how they've handled this Kickstarter. There should had been clear communication that the physical rewards would ship from the US and to be prepared that P* is not responsible for the import charges that may occur. Which tends to be a thing that almost happens at random depending on the country as some backers got charged and other didn't. We should not blame P* there, but the federal governments of European countries and their archaic import rulings and their lack of consistency on applying it.

But, they are still a top-tier developer and their credibility there should not be tarnished due to the mishandling of a Kickstarter.

@mazzel it still isn't additional VAT, there is no such thing. V.A.T is a fixed rate, it can never be more or less. The import tax that you did paid is something levied by the greed of Royal mail and nothing else.

@YANDMAN ok, let me try again! What I, personally, just ney was missing when I ordered was a hint, that the item will be shipped from abroad and that this means, that VAT comes on top of the proce that I paid for the item and shipping that very moment. With this information, I would be able to check my local tax laws and calculate the VAG, then decide if it's worth it or not!
I'm not saying PG did this on purpose, but it definitely was far away from customer friendly!