FOOD FIGHT! Well if you haven’t heard, there is quite the dispute delyaing one of last year’s BIG kickstraters – Operation Babylon from DUST Studio.
Via BoLS
Last year, Dust Studio launched the highly successful Kickstarter for Operation Babylon. The Kickstarter was a hit, raking in $469,313 of the original $50,000 goal. All seemed well and the initial wave of the Kickstarter products were announced as shipping out.
Then in late january, DUST creator Paulo Parente took to his facebook page to say that there were issues with the Kickstarter and a dispute between the two parties.
Paulo gave an interview to website Wee Gamers laying out his side of the dispute, including the public release of the Kickstarter contract between the two parties. Here is a small excerpt of Paulo’s statements:
“The public action that Dust Studio, with me as standard bearer, is taking has one goal only: push Battlefront to act with due diligence by honouring the Babylon Kickstarter Contract that they wrote themselves, pay the overdue fee to Dust Studio for manufacturing the goods and deliver them to the backers…
…Basically it reads that Battlefront is obliged to pay Dust Studio first. And in the case Dust Studio cannot manufacture the goods then Dust Studio is accountable.
Now, how the hell are we supposed to deliver something that has not been ordered or paid for???
Up to today we have not received the P.O. for the so called “Babylon Wave 2″ or a full list of the items to be delivered. Dust Studio will be happy to deliver the goods as soon as Purchase Order is issued and paid for.
The production on the Wave 2 items is going on. We estimate that they will be ready by the end of March 2015.
We are manufacturing items based on the last received information dated November 2014 plus a small percentage extra, just in case the orders get bigger.
We know that Battlefront have been collecting orders and payments until January 2015.
We wait for Battlefront to honor their side of the deal.”
Since the announcement by Mr. Parente, Battlefront has taken to the internet with a series of press releases telling their side of the story on the Kickstarter’s page here. Here is a small excerpt of them:
“…We’re still pursuing third-party mediation, which is the best process for fairly resolving the current contractual dispute – and which, despite what you may have been told, we can assure you has so far been refused by Dust Studio for unknown reasons….
…We appreciate Paolo Parente’s contributions on social media. His passion for the world he has created does him credit. And most importantly, he has stated his commitment to producing all of the models for Wave 2 – the one thing we all desperately want to see.
However, at this time we are still seeking meaningful dialogue with Dust Studio’s majority shareholder, William Yau, regarding commitments that Paolo made during the Kickstarter Campaign. The fact is, we have already paid more than $401,000 (between July/Aug 2014) to Dust Studio from the Kickstarter funds. And we provided them with the complete list of confirmed orders we had in early November (the orders for 1258 people), after the pledge manager closed.
What should be clear to all is that the dispute involves only a part of the project – ironically the free items – not the delivery of the entire project. As ever, we remain optimistic that this will all be resolved fairly and in all parties’ best interests.”
What is certain is that this looks to be a dispute over the production of the free items that were part of the Kickstarter, and that the dispute is ongoing. Both the Battlefront and Paulo’s own respective DUST related pages are continuing to kick out regular content updates on models from the kickstarter as if nothing is in dispute.
There is no talk of any legal action being filed and Battlefront has mentioned mediation in their press releases. Kickstarter themselves is notoriously weak in any ability to force parties to work out these kinds of differences. Regardless of the state of the mess, in the end the ones who are really losing are the enthusiastic gamers who laid down their hard earned money for a chance to play in the amazing DUST universe Mr. Parente created.
Here’s hoping both sides can work this out amicably and quickly – perhaps a bit faster with the bright light of the public upon them.
When manufacturers and studios fight, gamers seem to lose. Let’s hope for a fast resolution to this dispute!
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
