GRIN Studios, the developer of Woolfe the Redhood Diaries on PC and initially later this year on both PS4 and Xbox One, has shut down. Studio head Wim Wouters announced in a blog post that the team has filed for bankruptcy and is unable to deliver on the obligations of its kickstarter campaign. "The artbook is ready to be printed, the soundtrack is ready for distribution, the DVD case is ready for production. But we have literally no money whatsoever to pay for stamps, let alone print the artbooks and dvd-cases".
Mr. Wouters stated that "Our lack of experience just could not be compensated with passion alone" In the post, he also discusses the reasons along with quite painful iteration and admission of failure. "It is done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed". That's pretty harsh and an incredible realization. Once sales numbers began rolling in for their PC version, Mr. Wouters stated that it was clear that things were not what they were intended to be. As a result, human emotion set in and they began searching for external reasons for the game's lack of success. He does not mix words or look for excuses as he states “Of course none of the emotional excuses above are the reason of our mixed Steam rating. We can only blame ourselves.”
Mr. Wouters finishes up by thanking everyone who supported him, including his family and wife who is the game's story writer as well. In an incredible show of strength and resolve, Mr. Wouters offers his knowledge and experience to anyone who may need his help in their own endeavors. When I spoke with Mr. Wouters back on March 22nd of this year, he spoke about the challenges of owning and operating their own game company. His response was as follows:
"I had this company for 12 years now, 13 years almost and almost failed three times. This was like the fourth time that something could go totally wrong if I was unlucky. I think the biggest thing is don't give up. It's been going better and better every time and, if you try something that involves risk theres a luck factor that you can not always predict that you rely on though. So I think not giving up is a good way to enforce luck."
It takes a special kind of person to offer to help others when they themselves are at their lowest and here's hoping that Mr. Wouters and company land on their feet.
