The Code Hero Kickstarter ended on February 24, 2012, raising $170,000 of a requested $100,000. The campaign, run by Peake and his Primer Labs studio, promised a full game in six months that would teach K-12 students how to write Unity code.
Ok, not a bad idea, although the entire "turn learning into pure play" thing always seems a bit bullshit to me, but whatever.
With the over-funding, Peake tacked on "multiplayer MMO" features and a documentary about the crowdfunding process.
That sound you just heard was the train leaving the rails.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
One of these new employees was David Lopez, a game designer from California; he quit his job at Red Giant Studios after Peake recruited him for Code Hero. Peake offered Lopez $55,000 a year.
"I never got paid for the majority of my work, which was tons of money," Lopez said.
$55K a year is not a huge amount for real dev work.
Lopez said Peake tried to pay him at first, giving him a $400 check from Primer Labs. It bounced. A second Primer Labs check for $800 (to make up for the denied one), Peake didn't sign and Lopez couldn't deposit. Eventually, Peake wrote Lopez a personal check for $800. That's all he was ever paid.
Wtf?
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."