[Update] Comcept Didn't Figure Out Mighty No. 9 Demo Distribution Before Committing To Release Date

Update: Comcept has finally alerted backers to the reasoning behind not distributing the Mighty No. 9 demo as promised on September 15. The company didn't have its distribution method figured out prior to committing to the release date.

A Kickstarter update three days late (called out on NeoGAF) after burying the news at the bottom of a post about a contest makes the situation clear. The full statement follows:

Hey Mighties!

We want to give you some more clarity on the demo situation.

Although the demo had been finished and was ready to go, we ran into some very last-minute and unexpected complications with distributing the demo exclusively to all our backers through Steam. We’ve also been listening to your feedback about preferring to have a demo that is not time-limited. Given the complications with giving you the demo, we came to the conclusion that it would be better to make the demo DRM-free without any time restrictions.

Because this demo is exclusively for you, our backers, we still needed to have a way to get the demo to each of you individually and we’ve been looking into all the options. We’re currently working with our partners at Humble Bundle to prepare the demo for delivery through their service.

Unfortunately this change in our plans means that the release of the demo is going to be slightly delayed as we are currently working on retooling the demo for a DRM-free release. Comcept and all of our partners are working hard to get the demo ready and in our backers’ hands as soon as possible. 

We sincerely apologize for this delay, but we hope you’ll like the resulting changes! We will keep our backers up-to-date regarding the release of this demo as soon as we have more information.

Cheers,
The Mighty Team

Original Story (September 16, 2015 at 12:46 p.m. Central)

After the sneaky delay of Mighty No. 9 that was held until after the Red Ash Kickstarter closed, Comcept promised backers that it would ease the delay by offering a trial version. Backers were expecting to have that in their hands yesterday, but Comcept delayed it in obtuse fashion.

The notification of the delay came as a footnote in a September 15 post about a contest on the official website. A backer update hasn’t been issued yet alerting people to the reason they haven’t yet received their promised codes.

“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,” Comcept wrote on September 15. “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.”

The most recent backer update on the Kickstarter page as of this writing is dated September 6, and still promises the demo delivery date of September 15. Comcept hasn’t offered a revised timeline for delivery of the trial version. We’ve reached out to publisher Deep Silver for information, and we’ll update should we receive a response.

Clarification: While Deep Silver is Mighty No. 9's publisher, it is not responsible for backer communiciation.

[Source: Comcept]

Our Take
Comcept is blowing it. The developer denied delays, even in the face of our report about the game’s bump to 2016 (going to far as to say it was a rumor even after they confirmed the news). Now they are being coy with backers who have been strung along for months on the full game’s delay. This isn’t the right way to treat people responsible for funding your game.