Backers Angry After Mighty No. 9 Demo Quietly Delayed

The special demo version of Mighty No. 9 due out earlier this week has apparently been quietly delayed, much to the frustration of backers who still have nothing to show for their money.

Mighty No. 9 had been due out this month, but back in August, it was delayed until next year. The timing of the delay was viewed suspiciously by some, as--despite rumors of a delay--it wasn't revealed until the Kickstarter campaign for another project from developer Comcept, Red Ash, was allowed to run its course. (It didn't meet its funding target.)

As an apology to backers, Comcept intended to release a special trial version on the date the full game had been planned for, September 15. A post on Mighty No. 9's website on that day discusses the details of a design contest. At the very end, it reveals that the demo likely wouldn't be out on time.

"Finally, we know that all of our fans are looking forward to the Special Demo Version we are preparing, and we just ask that you be a little more patient," it reads. "The team is working on it, but some issues popped up regarding the distribution method so there is a good chance it will not be ready to launch by the 15th. We are really sorry for the inconvenience.

"As soon as we have more info, we will let everyone know immediately."

As you might expect, this hasn't sat well with backers--both because this is another delay and because of the way this news was seemingly hidden in an unrelated post on the website. There's no word of this development in the updates section of the Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter page, and multiple backers have indicated they received no emails informing them of the news.

The comments on both the website post and the Kickstarter are a mixture of confusion and anger. "On the bright side, Comcept will never be able to raise a successful crowdfunding campaign again," one user wrote. "Hopefully, people will remember this mess."

Mighty No. 9 is a spiritual successor to Mega Man series. It's being helmed by longtime Mega Man producer Keiji Inafune, who turned to Kickstarter in 2013 for funding. More than $3.8 million was raised, but after repeated delays (the game was originally due out in April 2015), backers have still yet to see anything beyond a beta that was only available to those who pledged at least $80.