Planetary Annihilation: TheWrongCat’s Tail | About the Author & Preamble

About the Author

Chris “TheWrongCat” Warner is a shipbroker, based in Harwich in the United Kingdom. Born in 1992, he’s been playing games since the age of five, with real-time strategy being his bread and butter. He founded the Realm gaming community in December 2012 to satisfy his new-found love of large-scale multiplayer gaming, and maintained a leading position until October 2015 when he stood down due to increasing pressure from other commitments. He believes that most of life’s problems can be solved with a good cup of tea.

Preamble

This account follows the development of the real-time strategy game Planetary Annihilation from its inception on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform through to its release and subsequent completion. It is written from my own perspective as someone who has been deeply involved with the game throughout the development process. While the primary focus will be on the game and its development, some personal background will be included for context.

It has been a privilege to have been involved intimately both with Planetary Annihilation‘s community and its developers, Uber Entertainment, as it grew from a concept video into a distinctive and challenging game. Being closely involved on both sides has given me a unique insight into the development process, and an understanding of where things went right and where they went wrong.

This is written with the intention that the facts, perspectives and opinions contained within will serve to clarify previous misunderstandings between Uber Entertainment and the Plannetary Annihilation community. Hopefully more casual observers will also be enlightened on the intricacies and difficulties faced by game companies that opt for a more open development style.  Those looking to embark on future crowdfunding endeavours may also find this of use to try to avoid some of the pitfalls that come with a passionate and dedicated community that have invested both time and money into their vision.

As a disclaimer – this account has been written retrospectively, from my own memory of events that have occurred going back as far as four years ago. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of my writing, and I have taken the time to go back and re-watch and re-read to jog my memory, I am not infallible. If you spot any factual errors while reading, please write to me and let me know and I will ensure that they are corrected.