John Smedley, formerly of Sony Online Entertainment and Daybreak Games, opened indie studio Pixelmage Games this January, but the dream is already over. Due to weak Steam Early Access sales of Pixelmage Games’ first game Hero’s Song, the studio doesn’t have the funds to go on.

Hero’s Song was branded as a 2D pixel-art action RPG, and Pixelmage attempted to Kickstart it. However, that campaign failed, but the company persevered and brought the game to Steam Early Access last month. Smedley gave the following statement via the Pixelmage Games’ website as the explanation on the studio’s closing.

It's with a heavy heart that I have to report that Pixelmage Games is going to be shutting down and we have ceased development on Hero's Song. For the last year, our team has worked tirelessly to make the game we've dreamed about making, and with your support, and the support of our investors, we were able to get the game into Early Access. Unfortunately sales fell short of what we needed to continue development. We knew going in that most startups don't make it, and as an indie game studio we hoped we would be the exception to that rule, but as it turned out we weren't.

We sincerely value our customers. You’re our most important focus and have been from day one. We’re going to offer 100% refunds to all of the people who bought Hero’s Song.

Pixelmage Games’ is offering refunds to those who received the game via Indiegogo and Steam Early Access and the details on how to receive those refunds is available alongside Smedley’s statement.

Sometimes studios fail, but it’s great to see that this team tried their very best. Even though Pixelmage Games is closing down, their tenacity to get their game to the public is inspirational and I wish the team there well in their future endeavors.