Neal Stephenson's Kickstarter game is dead after two years of development

Science fiction author Neal Stephenson's foray into crowdfunded games development has come to an end with the official cancellation of Clang, according to a final update on the game's official Kickstarter page.

Stephenson's Clang successfully reached its funding goal of $500,000 in 2012 but was soon met with financial problems when developer Subutai Corporation failed to find additional financial investors. The author now confirms the development of the game has been terminated, with refunds given to Kickstarter supporters by request.

"I have delayed talking publicly about these projects for a long time because I kept thinking that at least one of them would reach a point where I could describe it in something other than generalities," wrote Stephenson. "I apologize for that delay. But now a year has passed since the last update and I've decided that it's cleaner and simpler to cut the cord, and announce the termination of Clang. Future announcements can then happen in their own good time, giving any new projects a fresh start."

Stephenson announced last year the project would be put on hold as the team worked to solve its financial situation; however, a prototype of the game was released to Steam last year. The developers previously planned to fund their work by selling phased releases on Steam, with the price gradually increasing as the game improved.