The Kickstarted title, Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus, has been dropped from Ouya's Free the Games Fund program in July. The program, which aims to double the Kickstarter funding of any games that receive more the $50,000 in exchange for 6 months of Ouya exclusivity, has received substantial criticism since its inception, and Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus is just the latest victim.
However, the blame can also be placed on the game's developer, SuckerFree Games developer William McDonald, who was transparent about how the Kickstarter reached $54,000+ despite only having 180 supporters. Apparently, his father decided to support the project with a large check from his retirement to fund the title's three episodes, just in time for the title to qualify for Ouya's Free the Games Fund. This is after the title already received $5,177 in another Kickstarter that ended on May 8, 2011.
Since this could be considered fraudulent, Ouya has decided to remove the game from the program, a situation that William McDonald believes could have been avoided:
If we had remained silent we very likely would have received the funds, our transparency and honesty apparently was our undoing…It appears we were thrown under the [Free the Games] bus. Ouya gets their fall guy and Gridiron keeps their money.
Gridiron Thunder, about a week prior, received $171,000 on Kickstarter from only 183 supporters, but was not dropped from the Free the Games Fund. With doubt from the crowdfunding community on the legitimacy of this support, Dungeons: The Eye of Draconus may have used as a scapegoat. But then again, its own actions are also shady to say the least.
