Steam users getting full refunds, no questions asked, for controversial game

Development studio Bulkhead Interactive is offering full refunds for anyone who supported its multiplayer first-person shooter title, Battalion 1944, after years of controversy.

Battalion 1944 was a great idea, in theory. Set in World War II, the game was supposed to capture the nostalgic feeling of old-school multiplayer shooters, except with up-to-date graphics and released on modern platforms. It was first unveiled on Kickstarter back in 2016, where it had a super successful campaign - in its lifetime, 10,096 people backed it, in turn raising £317,281.

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While more than enough money was raised to see the project through, things didn’t go so smoothly from that point on. As PC Gamer writes, although the game launched in early access on PC in 2018 (before getting a full release in 2019), the PS4 and Xbox One releases that had been promised never materialised, and they were officially cancelled last year. The game re-released on Steam in 2022 as Battalion: Legacy, which was (and still is) totally free to play, but Kickstarter update posts were stopped entirely from January 2018. That is, until now.

Bulkhead Interactive has released a video confirming that everyone who supported the game on Kickstarter is eligible to receive a full refund: “Today, we’d like to announce that we’re offering a full refund to all Kickstarter backers, regardless of platform, pledge tier, or time played in the game,” game director Joe Brammer said. “I want players to understand that we apologise for being unable to meet the expectations of players and ourselves, and that we flew too close to the sun and we attempted more than we could handle at that time.”

Kickstarter backers have now been emailed surveys which they must respond to within 30 days. After that survey period ends, refunds will be sent out to backers’ PayPal accounts. Be sure to check your inbox if you've not already set the process in motion.