Legal trouble ends Kickstarter campaign for Hand-Drawn Game Guides

Game guides are something retro gamers know very well. In fact, I fondly remember my strategy guide for Luigi’s Mansion saving my butt multiple times as a kid. In the digital age we now live in, however, these once popular guides became a thing of the past. Gamers are now simply one YouTube video away from figuring out how to get past a tricky stage in a video game.

Philip Summers sought to bring retro fans a dose of nostalgia through his Kickstarter campaign Hand-Drawn Game Guides. To the dismay of both Summers and the project’s backers, however, legal trouble abruptly halted the project. The company responsible for putting legal pressure on Summers remains unknown; however, the creator released a statement on the official Kickstarter regarding the cancellation.

Tonight I pulled the plug on the Hand-Drawn Game Guides Kickstarter. Yes, for exactly the reason you think it’s for. I had hoped that I could successfully navigate any legal trouble, but alas I wasn’t able to do so.

Philip Summers

A Status Update for Hand-Drawn Game Guides

To help publish the books, Summers worked alongside Dreamprism Press. Yesterday, an update by the publishing company and collaborator for Hand-Drawn Game Guides was posted on Kickstarter addressing the cancellation. In the update, Dreamprism Press clarified that the cancellation was entirely the decision of the HDGG team and not the result of a cease and desist.

The company states that the team for the project was contacted by a lawyer regarding potential legal concerns. To remain cautious and ensure no charges to the project’s backers, they made the decision to cancel on their own. Due to the nature of the situation, Dreamprism Press also urges fans to not attack any game companies during this time.

We have yet to have our meeting to discuss how we can remedy the issues expressed by the lawyer who reached out to us. We don’t want to create any additional concerns because things “blew up in the press.” Please understand that when you write anything that attacks game companies based on assumptions that are untrue, it can worsen the problem and hurt us in the process.

Dreamprism Press

Dreamprism Press took to Twitter to provide further hope for the project. In addition to this Tweet, more hopeful news was shared on Kickstarter. Dreamprism Press states they currently don’t know what the legal concerns are, but that they hope to work with the game companies to resolve the disputes and relaunch the campaign with their blessing.

About the Project

In the past, Summers managed to create a plethora of game guides for retro Nintendo games. As the name implies, his guides are completely hand-drawn from front to back. However, he was only able to distribute the original project digitally with the exception of a limited physical release. His latest, and now cancelled, project sought to bring his Hand-Drawn Game Guides to a physical format.

Before the abrupt cancellation on Kickstarter, the Hand-Drawn Game Guides campaign surpassed the initial financial goal. The $322,000 backing blew the original $20,000 goal out of the water. For those who want a taste of Summers’ work, three game guides are available on the official Hand-Drawn Game Guides website.

Via Tech Raptor