It seems as though Paypal is unintentionally throwing a wrench in the works of another independent game developer. Goldhawk Interactive, the developers of theX-CominspiredXenonauts, have just beenlocked outfrom their pre-order funds by Paypal.
In recent years, one of the popular funding methods for independent game developers is the early pre-order. It works out quite well, in fact; you pay for the game in advance, you receive the game when it is released and sometimes even get access to early builds of the game to tide you over and to reward you for your patronage. While this sounds all well and good to the average consumer, this doesn’t sit right with Paypal.
Paypal feels as though people shouldn’t buy an item that doesn’t exist in any completed form. They feel, if the project were to fall through and the item become unable to be completed, then Paypal would be liable.
Goldhawk Interactive is now sitting on $4,300 of funds that they won’t be able to access for at least six months. While this won’t stop them from continuing to work on Xenonauts, production may need to be scaled back. This means that the upgrade to the UI may need to sit on the back burner and be released as an update, at a later date.
Similar issues with Paypal has been plaguing the development ofProject Zomboidas well. But with the help of services such as Steam and Desura, the developer was able to get back on track and continue to receive funding. Let’s just hope that Goldhawk Interactive can find a better solution to their pre-order problems.
Xenonauts dev’s Paypal account “locked down and closed” for 180 days[PC Gamer]
