A Note Regarding the Captain's Edition
There is a second significant change to the campaign happening today. We are expanding the production run of the Captain's Edition of SkullPirates, increasing the number of total copies for PS4 and Vita to 500 and 600, respectively, and have introduced a new set of tiers backers may select to claim the additional copies.
We understand that some backers may be displeased by this decision and it's not one we made easily. The very limited quantity (and thus rarity) of the package is a significant part of its appeal. It's a cool thing for us, too, having something like that out in the world. So, we want to take a moment to give some insight into why we're making this adjustment.
It's a simple fact that we underestimated demand to a considerable degree. How considerably started to dawn on us roughly five minutes after the project went live; a dozen Captain's Editions had been claimed and we hadn't even told anyone yet.
From a strictly capitalistic point of view, it's a sin right up there with taking the first offer you're given in a negotiation. But we were perfectly happy with the outcome regardless of the obvious lost potential sales. We had an expectation that the Captain's Edition would sell out because the quantities were so low and that there would be some demand that was unmet in the end, but it was a number that worked for us. We could be confident they would move, allowing us to fund the project and put us in a good position to work toward some wishlist items over the remainder of the month with pledges for standard edition and digital copies. For us, what happened was as good an outcome as we could have hoped for. But it's not all about us.
As you know, we're working with eastasiasoft on this campaign to produce our physical copies, including the Captain's Edition. They've truly been an exceptional partner and we could not be happier about the level of support we've received from them throughout this process. And while they're as excited as we are about the success the campaign has had, that success has caused a bit of an issue for them.
eastasiasoft serves an avid collector's market in Asia. Based on our expectation for the project, we anticipated that we'd have an early rush on copies that would peter out until morning in Asia some twelve hours later, at which time eastasiasoft would alert their customers there about the campaign and we'd see another wave. As it happened, by that point, it was already too late and those customers are understandably upset at not getting a fair opportunity to secure a copy.
We screwed this up and, with everything that eastasiasoft has done to ensure the success of the campaign, it doesn't feel right to us that they should have to face a horde of angry people because we got it so wrong.
Obviously, we also want to respect all of you, the backers whose support allowed us to achieve the success we have. Even with the increase, the Captain's Edition will remain one of the lowest print runs in the PS4 and Vita libraries, but you got here first and that should count for something. So, we've arranged with eastasiasoft to ensure that the first 250 numbered units for each platform will go to the backers who pledged for the original set of tiers.
If this turn of events has made you uncomfortable, we completely understand and respect that. The success of crowdfunding campaigns are largely contingent on trust and transparency and we want you to feel confident in your decision to support us.
Thank you again for your support and for your understanding of this issue. We'll be back soon with more cool new stuff to show.
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