(Likely due in part to due to fears of retaliation, due to What Pumpkin’s history of aggressive litigation against whistleblowing or other perceived criticism.) Some tips were submitted anonymously but then researched. I’ve contacted them repeatedly, including after this article was published and members of the staff explicitly expressed concern over parts of this article, but they continue to refuse comment.Īs part of my research I had the opportunity to speak with former employees from What Pumpkin Studios, but they wished to remain anonymous. Neither What Pumpkin nor Viz Media would respond to requests for comment. All changes will be posted in Appendix IV. If so, please let me know so I can make the relevant corrections. I may in some cases add anchorlinks (dotted) as cross-references.ĭisclaimer: While I have done my best to verify everything in this article, it’s entirely possible I got something wrong or missed something significant. Throughout this article, emphasis within blockquotes is usually mine. April 2018: Hiveswap Friendsim Launches.What Pumpkin puts Hiveswap on formal hiatus.Tech Coast Angels side-channel fundraising.January 2016: Secret side-channel fundraising.December 2015: WP NYC Dissolve & A New Look.Hey Poor Player: Hiveswap’s Jess Haskins.Review Fix: Jess Haskins talks Hiveswap.What Pumpkin is now the development studio.Learn about accountability on Kickstarter.The third article, covering some of the fallout and personal drama from all this, is here. The second article “ More on the Hiveswap Odd Gentlemen Debacle” covers much more detailed leaks about a few specific topics in the story, especially claims about The Odd Gentlemen that were - at the time - rumors. I dug through every page, announcement, interview, blog post, FAQ, and tweet I could find, and the culmination is this the most comprehensive - as far as I can tell - explanation of Hiveswap to date.Īll additions and changes are posted in Appendix IV.Įdit: This is the first, historical article. I’m documenting the story so far so that the Hiveswap Story isn’t lost to time, and so there’s a decent summary of events so far, and maybe even so new Hiveswap fans can catch up. There is also significant pressure on people in the know - even people who just lived through backing the project - to keep quiet about all this, for reasons I’ll get into.
This is probably due to the fact that a lot of the key sources are ephemeral - and most of them have been deleted - but it’s also because it feels premature to write up a “postmortem” on a game’s development before it’s even an eighth of the way finished. Right now, this meta-story mostly exists in the form of oral history. The story of how Andrew Hussie burned through a $2.5 million dollar investment over eight years to produce almost nothing is fascinating, convoluted, and poorly understood even among Homestuck fans. Rather, the conversation “about Hiveswap” is dominated by stories about the development and history of the game as a project - starting as a Kickstarter success story but then bouncing from scandal to scandal for years. The real story of Hiveswap isn’t about the game or the universe.