American McGee: Akaneiro is "100 percent finished," developer "not out of money"

The Kickstarter page for free-to-play ARPG Akaneiro: Demon Hunters stated that American McGee's studio, Spicy Horse, ran "out of time and money" for final polishing . McGee evidently took umbrage with the media focus on that line, clarifying to Kotaku today that Akaneiro is "100 percent finished" and Spicy Horse has money to spare.

Spicy Horse removed the "out of time/money" sentence from its Kickstarter page after McGee contacted Kotaku. The designer explained the Akaneiro team simply meant "they came to the natural end of their development cycle on that project" and didn't intend any message of financial troubles.

"As we're not publisher funded, and because we can't afford to continue development indefinitely, we're asking the audience," McGee said. "We're giving them a chance to decide whether or not these additional features sound worthwhile."

It's true Akaneiro's Kickstarter campaign focuses on additional features to the core game, but some of the promised bonuses for meeting the $200,000 goal—like co-op multiplayer and a crafting system—seem quite baseline for free-to-play games of this caliber. Still, McGee stated Akaneiro's January release will proceed forward regardless of the campaign's performance, as the "final" version was set by Spicy Horse's "existing internal schedule and budget."

Omri Petitte is a former PC Gamer associate editor and long-time freelance writer covering news and reviews. If you spot his name, it probably means you're reading about some kind of first-person shooter. Why yes, he would like to talk to you about Battlefield. Do you have a few days?