Crowdfunded effort to buy Homeworld series goes south

When publisher THQ folded from bankruptcy late last year, its many subsidiaries and assets went with it. The last of its properties -- including Red Faction, Darksiders and sci-fi RTS franchise Homeworld -- were to be sold off at court-approved auction between April 1st and April 15th. Hearing of this, in early March, indie developers teamPixel launched a Kickstarter to raise $50,000 to bid at auction for the license for Homeworld, which was created by Relic Entertainment in the 1990s. The team succeeded in raising $58,644 through Kickstarter and an additional $13,675 through a parallel IndieGoGo campaign, as well as an unstated amount of private funding. After acquiring the license, teamPixel stated it had plans to revive the franchise with two new titles, one for PC/Mac and another for mobile devices. Things didn't go as planned. As teamPixel wrote in a Kickstarter update to their backers:

While we reached qualified bidder status for the bankruptcy auction, we were unable to raise the necessary funds to remain competitive against the other parties at the auction.

TeamPixel is now taking steps to refund its 1,318 Kickstarter backers and move ahead with developing their game under an original IP. As for the final fate of the Homeworld license, it is unknown at this time who acquired it at auction. "We anticipate an announcement of the new owner to be made within a couple weeks and for the sale to be finalized around mid-May," says teamPixel. "We hope you will join us in supporting Homeworld's new owners in building a future for the franchise."