Pixelmage Games, headed up by former Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley, has officially closed down. The news came from a tweet sent out by Smedley linking to the studio’s main game page.

It breaks my heart to have to do this 🙁 https://t.co/pTWymRiYn3

– John Smedley (@j_smedley) 26 décembre 2016

Plus sur la official Pixelmage website there’s a note about the future of the studio – or rather, the future it won’t have – where they state…

“It’s with a heavy heart that I have to report that Pixelmage Games is going to be shutting down and we have ceased development on Hero’s Song. […]

 

“Unfortunately sales fell short of what we needed to continue development. We knew going in that most startups don’t make it, and as an indie game studio we hoped we would be the exception to that rule, but as it turned out we weren’t.”

The news immediately made its way to the Page d'accès anticipé on Steam for Chanson du héros. The isometric action-RPG with some creative emergent elements was quickly flooded with negative reviews from users, as they began warning any potential buyers away. The main thing was to make it known that Chanson du héros‘s development has been brought to cessation.

For those of you out there who may have mistakenly picked up a copy without knowing about the news, there is a bit of hope for you. Over on the official website they mention that IndieGoGo backers are eligible for refunds, along with those who purchased the game through the Steam store. For IndieGoGo backers you’ll need to e-mail Pixelmage Games and inform them about your refund – how much you paid to back the game and at what tier. For Steam gamers, simply go through the standard refund procedure.

A ce stade, Chanson du héros is one of the unfortunate casualties of Early Access. Some games… just don’t make it to the finish line.