Piranha Games’ latest games project had a decent build-up to its reveal. It first teased the game with a site, containing space-themed images and a countdown timer. Transverse was then revealed, an ambitious MMO that would rely not on NPCs as shopkeepers and quest givers, but rather have a game universe filled with players and see what narratives and gameplay emerged from it.

However they have announced today that due to a lack of momentum, the original plan which was to crowdfund the game will not happen and they are going to take the game back to the drawing board to think of another way to fund it. The game required a budget of $1 million just to get the basic structure set up, and so Piranha have conceded defeat.

The news was broken on the website for Transverse, in which creative director and co-founder of the company Bryan Ekman addressed the fans of the game.

“It’s a bittersweet day.” said the blogpost. “Thank you for taking a chance and showing us that you are interested in seeing our vision come to life. …We are going to shut down our funding today, ahead of the 30 day deadline and begin the process of refunding as promised.”

Transverse Site “Thank you!”: [x]