On January 8, 2025, Sam Vallely sat down to answer his critics.
The founder of Hyperfocus Games had been quiet over Christmas, and the people funding his wrestling game had noticed. In the project’s public Discord server, someone had used the word “vapourware”. Vallely posted a long message to everyone.
He explained the silence—a spell in hospital, then a winter bug that put him in bed for a week. He set out the team, name by name, and was candid about its size.
Editor’s Note: This story features instances of vulgar language that was kept to show the nature of the conversations that were had. Discretion is advised.
“For programming and actual game engine development, there’s only me,” he wrote. Then he addressed the accusation directly.
“We aren’t scamming anyone here, and I’m thankful the majority of you can see that,” Vallely said, before making an offer that has aged quite poorly.
“To anyone out there who thinks there is the slightest possibility of this being a scam, here’s a real easy way to find out,” Vallely wrote, and listed six colleagues by name. “Message any one of them privately and ask them if I kept any money from the Kickstarter or Patreon for myself. These people have zero personal allegiance to me and are working with HFG purely because of the promise of this game. They see everything going on behind the scenes, and if I was in any way scamming anyone, they would take to social media in a heartbeat.”
Eighteen months later, five of those six people have gone.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://insider-gaming.com/problems-behind-ultra-pro-wrestling
