Major Layoffs at TUG, the Game Backers Got After Yogventures Collapsed

In July, Yogventures, a game from the popular YouTube channel Yogscast, was canceled after raising $567,000 on Kickstarter. Yogcast reimbursed backers with a free code for another Kickstarted crafting and survival game, TUG. However, TUG developer Nerd Kingdom is experiencing some trouble as well.

According to a recent update to Kickstarter backers, Nerd Kingdom had to lay off half its staff after it didn't accept a round of funding that would have sustained it through the end of the year. "The deal that would have gone through would have lost us all control and ownership and we are not huge fans of being owned by investors like this," Nerd Kingdom said. "Sadly, we need to cut off a few limbs to be able to ensure this does not happen."

Nerd Kingdom's update wasn't all bad news. It said that TUG had consistent, stable growth in sales and play time over the last four months, and that it continues to expand the game with more features like new terrain, multiplayer for its "traditional survival" mode, and a modding API.

Nerd Kingdom also said that there a few other large publishers that are interested in investing in the game, though it promises to reach out to the game's community before it accepts an offer.

Unfortunately, the reduction in staff means Nerd Kingdom will not be able to deliver on all of its promises by January, as initially stated in its Kickstarter goals.

TUG is available via Steam Early Access. It currently costs $10, but will increase to $20 as Nerd Kingdom introduces new features.

In addition to TUG, Yogcast gave Yogventures backers free copies of Sony Online Entertainment's Landmark, and said that there are more rewards in the works.