Worlds Beyond heads to the great beyond

Damn. We’d gone more than a year without having a (real) game obituary. Naturally, I’m a little sad to buck that trend with the news that the recently announced jRPG Worlds Beyond has gone under due to unspecified “recent events” in the life of one of the creators.

Josiah, the artsy half of the two-man team that comprised developer Bridge Unit Orzo, explained in a Kickstarter update Saturday morning:

There’s some big news I have to deliver to you guys, and it’s not entirely pleasant. Due to some recent events in my life that I’m not comfortable discussing, I’ve realized that I can’t commit myself to this project in a way that’s fair to you guys or Ruben. I know it’s hard to get across in a way that doesn’t sound like I’m taking the easy way out or being lazy, but what this project demanded from me I am not able to provide. The stress became too much for me, personally, to handle and it’s become clear now that the only option is to quietly back away from this project and go our own separate ways.

The game’s engine and editor will continue to be developed by Ruben as his own project (He can elaborate more on that if he chooses), and there is a good chance that I’ll continue to develop Worlds Beyond by myself on my own time, but I will definitely be taking a break for a while.

I’d just like to make it clear that this decision is my responsibility. I’m not good at dealing with pressure, and it’s clear that I wasn’t able to keep up with what was expected of me. That wasn’t fair at all to Ruben, who is a brilliant programmer and has shown me understanding and patience through this — but ultimately, it’s best for both of us if it ends this way.

The Kickstarter project will be cancelled and all pledges returned.

It’s a shame to see this happen, as Worlds Beyond looked like a promising attempt at a straightforward Chrono-Trigger-style game. That said, I am glad to see that they didn’t wait for the Kickstarter campaign to wrap up before making this decision. We wish the developers good luck going forward.