Crowdfunding platform BrightLocker shuts down

BrightLocker, a crowdfunding platform similar to Patreon and Kickstarter, is closing down amid claims that some developers hadn't been paid money owed.

CEO Ruben Cortez confirmed that the company is dissolving, but its community-building platform will apparently still continue operations under a holding company with which Cortez has no involvement. 

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, one developer said the holding company that bought the BrightLocker domain is BL HoldCo 1, LLC, and that it would not be making any payments promised by the original company.

There's also been some back and forth as to whether or not the developers have actually been paid, despite Cortez claiming that the company never refused to pay up. "That's definitely not the case," said one developer. 

"There is a plethora of developers who are fairly unhappy in our Discord who haven't been sent their payments. We shouldn't have to chase them down like this."

Another developer said it was a shame that the company was closing.

"It was a great idea for platform," the dev said. "Many believed in them but seems like they had start-up troubles just from observing, but hope they do the honorable thing and pay the developers. There is always a right way and wrong way to go about things."

In an email to Gamasutra after the original publication of this story, Cortez said, "For the record, the 'plethora' of developers who claimed to not been paid turned out to be 7, with 4 of those due less than $60 USD, and the others due around $300.

"They were all paid immediately and were very gracious in receiving their payments. Many expressed support for our efforts to try and create a platform to benefit game developers, and were sad to hear that we couldn't continue due to our inability to close the next round of funding."

BrightLocker was founded back in 2014 as a "crowdpublishing" platform to create games from user-submitted ideas.

Updated with comments from Cortez, clarified headline.