Glorious Leader! Kickstarter campaign cancelled following hacks

Gloriousleader

Glorious Leader!, a 16 bit sidescroller featuring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has had its Kickstarter campaign cancelled following hacks. Initially due to release in November last year, studio Moneyhorse Games launched the crowdfunding campaign late last year to help finish the project.

According to a spokesperson for Moneyhorse Games writing on Kickstarter in December, the studio had "no reason" to believe the hack was perpetrated by North Korea or any affiliates. They also assured that no user information was compromised during the hack, which "destroyed data pertaining to Glorious Leader! and other projects we had in development".

At the weekend Moneyhorse posted a new update on its Kickstarter page announcing that the campaign will be cancelled, and that the future of Glorious Leader! is unclear.

"As many of you know, over the holidays we were victims of a hack inspired by the attack on Sony," the statement read. "The hackers destroyed data pertaining to Glorious Leader! and other projects we had in development and locked us out of our own computers and wesbite. The timing couldn't have been worse as it hampered our ability to attend to the Kickstarter project.

"We realize that we also made mistakes in our pledge levels and rewards. It is now evident that our funding goals will not be met, so we are cancelling our Kickstarter campaign.

"This is not the first time we have been targeted because of Glorious Leader! Between the hacking and other threats, we think it is time to reevaluate our commitment to Glorious Leader! We thank our fans and supporters, and we are sorry to let you down."

At the time of its cancellation last week, Glorious Leader! had attracted $16,816 of its $55,000 goal.

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.