PATREON TRIES TO KILL CK!
So, for those of you who didn't know, Patreon has shut down my page and with it 90% of my income.
"But why?" I hear you ask, through the microphones I've secretly placed in your home. Is it because I violated the law, or engaged in depraved acts beyond all ethical boundaries? Did I push the limits of human decency too far? What vile and disgusting act could I have possibly committed that justifies having my game and my income destroyed?
I put Alice in the game.
Yes, that's it. Alice exists. Patreon's new policy is, and I quote: "We do not allow the presence of underage characters in Adult/18+ content." Which means no Alice, no Lil' Roxy and those kids of yours? Definitely not. The fact that none of them are sexualized in any way is irrelevant. They exist, therefore the game is no longer allowed on Patreon.
So the page is completely done, finished, gone forever?
Well... I've been told that if I wait two months I can remake the game completely and submit it to the Trust and Safety Team for review and possible acceptance as a brand new page and account. But the kids would have to be gone. Erased from the game and the lore completely. Chloe will no longer have a little sister, Lil' Roxy will be unmade, and all your kids will be erased from history. If I want to get back onto Patreon I have to eviscerate CK.
I won't do that. I refuse.
Patreon will keep drawing new lines, keep shifting the goalposts, keep trying to squeeze adult creators off their site until all that's left is a shiny, sterile, puritanical paradise. They don't want me to be a part of that and, frankly, neither do I.
I could try moving everyone over here to SubScribestar, but that has traditionally not done well. Is it possible? Sure. Is it likely? Not very.
So what's the solution? A roll of the dice. A gamble.
I'm bringing Corrupted Kingdoms to Steam.
Now, Steam won't allow modded Koikatsu (the engine I'm using for renders) on its storefront, so that means I need to remake all of the graphical assets. This is going to alienate and irritate a lot of people, I know, but I don't see another path here. Without the Patreon income I only have a few months before my resources run out. Some people won't like the new graphical style, some won't ever read this and will think I abandoned the old version for a chance at a bigger profit on Steam, and some people simply don't like Corrupted Kingdoms.
The pitfalls are many. Steam may not allow the game on the store, or it may be review-bombed, or people may simply not buy it, to name just a few.
But I have to do it.
Is it a risk? Absolutely. But it's this or throwing Alice and the kids in the dumpster, and I won't do that. Not for any amount of money. Patreon will never be satisfied. So even if this bankrupts me, I'm finishing this story, and I'm finishing it right.
Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?
Let's do this.
CHARGE! CHARGE LIKE YOU'RE STORMING THE BEACHES OF NORMANDY ON THE 6TH OF JUNE 1944! CHAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGEEEEEEEEEE
WATCH OUT FOR PATREON'S MORTAR FIRE! OH GOD THEY GOT ANOTHER DEV!
patreon refugee here. i think, i may now have a look at all the people i follow on patreon and migrate my sub to sibscribestar if thay have it. rather not give such a clown organisation any more of my money.
Thank you for your support! And yes, if you can then I would definitely advise shifting to SubStar to support your favourite creators - they'll appreciate it, too, as SubStar takes a smaller cut of your pledge, and offers WAY more creative freedom on its platform :)
There are a lot of good games on Patreon.
There are a lot of good games on Patreon.
But Patreon has been engaging in this type of behavior for years.
Wrong politics? Religion? Game design? Background? Screwed.
I absolutely refuse to support anything through Patreon. It needs to die and authors need to branch out. I'll sub here, send coffee, etc. heck, one game I just kept sending the author Steam gift cards every month, until he finally relented and set up Subscribestar :-)
I'm sorry I could only pitch in one dollar a month for now. Things are tight in the current economy. However, I will say this. I will never do business with Patreon ever again over their attempts to destroy you and this game that we love over something as ridiculous as the mere presence of children in the game. They are going the way of just about any other greedy organization hell bent on destroying creative freedom and I will not be a party to supporting that kind of business practice.
Its crazy i didnt even realize what was happening with CK until i got a notification that i was getting a refund from patreon