DubWars Apology To Fans

We apologize for not getting this out sooner, but some people have asked for the whole DubWars story, what happened with the project, and why the game seems so much different now than it was.

MURA started off as a student group working out of the UVU Animation department. We were driven, talented, creative people who worked well and had big goals. We started work on DubWars in the spring of 2013. We thought would make a fun little title for the OUYA and get our school some recognition and maybe even help fund our dreams of starting a little indie studio. At the very least we could get a launched title on our resume.

The game took off better than we could’ve hoped. We planned and started a kickstarter, we contacted press, and we developed the game. We worked hard, worked 100 hour weeks, saw a lot of promise in the game and most importantly met a lot of great fans who enjoyed what we were making.

Joe, however, was never satisfied. As our kickstarter grew slowly he started making partnerships without consent from the rest of the team. Huge chunks of profit were promised away before it came in. Our kickstarter earned less than one third of our goal of 30,000 due to fraudulent backers. This did little to dissuade Joe, who began planning even more expensive advertising campaigns. When Michael and Sam, co-owners of MURA at the time, voiced concerns, they were shut down. They weren’t being given any input into how their money was being spent. Ben and Evan, who were scheduled for payment after the Kickstarter, were not paid.

Sam and Michael eventually were forced to leave before the bill went beyond what they initially invested. Their payout for thousands of hours of work amounted to less than $200 each. Evan and Ben soon followed, after being offered new contracts to continue working but without their promised payment and a much smaller revenue share.

When the Kickstarter finished in June of 2013 DubWars was on track to finish that fall, 3 months later. Now, March 2015, over a year and a half later, DubWars has added one new level. Many have voiced concerns over the new art or effects and direction of the game. We can only say that we are no longer involved in its development. Though the mechanics are the same we feel much of its heart and soul that the original developers put in is now lost. The game continues developing however, new levels funded by old levels developed essentially for free by a few artists duped into working with the wrong business partner.

DubWars we feel was a very special game, ruined by the short-sightedness of one greedy person who was given too much trust. The rest of the team continues work in the Digital Media industry and collaborate on projects. We’re very grateful for fans of DubWars and for the chance we had to be a part of something special. However, like you, we are disappointed that it couldn’t have been something more. We are sorry for all the promises that were made that we can cannot fulfill.