Summerfall Studios co-founders David Gaider and Liam Esler took to Twitter to announce that they're moving their upcoming crowdfunding campaign from Kickstarter to Fig following an apparent anti-union stance that has developed at Kickstarter.
"We wanted to let you know about a decision we've made regarding our crowdfunding campaign," Liam Esler began on Twitter. "Although we love Kickstarter, we strongly disagree with its leadership's anti-union stance. We believe this is a disservice to its employees and to the many projects which depend upon it. It also isn't what we believe Summerfall is all about."
"We've decided to move our campaign to Fig, a video game-specific crowdfunding platform," David Gaider continued. "Fig helped fund Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, Wasteland 3, and many other games. We appreciate their willingness to help us set everything up on such short notice and we're excited to be working with them for our first title."
Summerfall Studios — a new indie company that was co-founded just last month by industry veterans — is set to unveil its first game at Pax Australia in just a few days.
What is This 'Anti-Union Stance' Summerfall Studios is Talking About?
As the BBC reports, Kickstarter stands accused of union-busting activities. The company's head of comedy and podcasts Taylor Moore, tech and design lead Clarissa Redwine, and an unnamed third employee were terminated from the company in September, reportedly with no reason given.
"This morning, after six years of pouring my life into the mission, the staff, and the creators of @kickstarter, I was fired for organizing a union," Taylor Moore said on Twitter. "They offered me no real reasons, but one month's severance for signing an NDA. I will not be signing it."
Kickstarter has told the BBC that Mr. Moore and Ms. Redwine were fired for performance reasons and not for any union-related activities. The unnamed third employee's position was eliminated from the company, rendering their employment redundant. Some employees have alleged that the company didn't follow it's usual procedures for firing employees who don't meet performance standards, and lurking behind this are matters like KickStarter stating they would not voluntarily recognize the union, although they acknowledged the rights of workers to form one.
The Kickstarter Union fight is still ongoing; you can follow their progress on the union's Twitter account. Slate published an indepth account of the situation last month that is also a good way to catch up on everything that has happened. Summerfall Studios will reveal their upcoming game at Pax Australia on October 10, 2019, at 8:30 PM Eastern; you can keep up with them at their official website. You can watch their statement in full in the tweet below.
Summerfall Studios
In light of recent statements from @kickstarter regarding unionisation, we've made the decision to move our crowdfunding campaign to @PlayFig. We hope Kickstarter voluntarily recognises @ksr_united.
