Dev for Final Fantasy Tactics spiritual successor ‘Unsung Story’ calls it quits

Hands game off after Kickstarter success three years ago

Yasumi Matsuno, the game designer responsible for titles such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, launched a Kickstarter campaign back in 2014 for a tactical role-playing game called Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians.

After raising $660,126 on the crowd funding platform and letting three years pass, the dev team behind Unsung Story, Playdek, have decided to call it quits. According to Playdek, they believe in the story and game Matsuno designed, but they are handing off the game to game developer and publisher Little Orbit. 

Here’s the full update (via Kotaku) from Playdek:

"To All Unsung Story Backers,

"Thank you for the support you have shown to make this project happen. Through the trials we have had as a company over the last few years, Playdek has strived to keep the project alive, as we believe in the game and the story that Yasumi Matsuno designed to set it in. To that, we want to let you know that the project is going to continue forward, but our involvement is coming to an end.

"Effective immediately publisher/developer Little Orbit has taken over all the rights and assets to Unsung Story from Playdek, and is now the project creator. They believe strongly the game can be an amazing Tactics RPG, and they are excited to carry on and bring Matsuno’s story to life. They will be bringing you project news from this point on to update everyone on their plans for the game.

"Again, we want to thank you for your support of this project, and though we are sorry that we were unable to complete it for you, we believe the project is in good hands, with people who have the same passion for the game. Please send all questions concerning the project, backer inquiries and development discussions to [email protected]. Thank you.

"Playdek"

Little Orbit has issued their own statement, saying that they have taken the game that Playdek started and tossed it out. The developer will be starting from scratch on Unsung Story. This decision came from looking at the backer comments on the game and deciding that the game should focus on the "original single player game and Matsuno’s design that was promoted during the campaign" that had somehow been lost in the Playdek version.

Hopefully this means that Unsung Story will actually release one day.