An odd digression from the world of indie game development unfolded in New Zealand when Studio Phat Loot raised roughly 527 thousand dollars on Kickstarter to back an online RPG called Pristine Islands. The project attracted attention for its ambitious scope and was positioned for a 2024 or 2025 release window. In August, however, the studio paused work on the project, citing financial stress as the reason for the temporary freeze.
What emerged is a tale of crowdfunding with high hopes meeting real-world financial volatility. The team disclosed that initial funds were allocated toward development and payroll, and that some of their capital came from investments in cryptocurrency. When the crypto market suffered a downturn, the studio found itself facing a liquidity crunch that hindered progress on the game and threatened ongoing salaries for staff. The situation underscored how volatile digital asset markets can impact independent studios that rely on a mix of crowdfunding and speculative investment.
Despite the setback, the leadership emphasized that there was no intention to abandon Pristine Islands. They signaled that progress could resume if and when additional funding materializes or if the cryptocurrency market stabilizes. Yet the pause prompted a wave of questions from potential players about refunds and the project’s future, with some fans requesting repayments as the uncertainty stretched on.
Pristine Islands is described as an expansive open-world MMORPG that invites players to track and battle monsters, explore expansive dungeons, and engage in in-game commerce and trade. The situation around the game has sparked broader discussions about crowdfunding risk, token volatility, and the realities of sustaining a long-term online project in a volatile financial landscape (VG Times).