OZombie Kickstarter cancelled as American McGee pursues Alice film rights

OZombie developer Spicy Horse has cancelled the game's failing Kickstarter campaign. In the project's final update, studio founder American McGee re-iterated his desire to secure the film rights to his Alice series of games.

In a post called 'End of the Rainbow', McGee wrote, "The Oz campaign has to end. There are two realities driving the decision. First, we’re facing a challenge with the Alice film rights.

"Since working to remove it from the Oz campaign we've been unable to launch it as a separate campaign here on Kickstarter – the submission has been rejected multiple times and our appeals have failed (multiple campaigns are not allowed). To launch a campaign for the Alice films rights means we must first shut down the Oz campaign."

In case you missed this one, McGee added the Alice film rights to the OZombie Kickstarter as a potential funding goal. He had hoped to use the film's inclusion to boost interest in the game, but the move failed to bear fruit.

"Second," McGee continued, "we wouldn't consider shutting down the Oz campaign if it were trending towards success. As it is, we've reached 15% of our goal with 20 days left in the campaign.

"Projections suggest we’ll hit 30% of our goal by campaign end. I've been telling myself to remain optimistic and see this thing through – but when the reality of our funding trend is combined with the pressure of the Alice film rights situation."

McGee added that there's always a chance the OZombie campaign will return in future, but as Spicy Horse's window to secure the Alice rights was closing, he decided to opt for one over the other.

He concluded, "Now we turn our attention to Alice. Securing these film rights would be nothing short of a major coup. We’d control a significant portion of Alice’s future. Being able to produce animations, feature films and related merchandise means keeping Alice’s world fresh, no matter what else might happen with the game portion of the property. I hope you’ll join us in making this a reality."

You can follow Spicy Horses attempts to make the Alice movie happen over on the Alice: Otherlands Facebook.

I interviewed McGee about OZombie and the Alice: Otherlands project here, and they both sound intriguing. Check out the details through the link.

Thanks Eurogamer.