Gas Powered Games has had an eventful week, announcing the Wildman Kickstarter project and laying off all but its most core employees a few days later. Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor even contemplated ending the Kickstarter, though the feedback he’s gotten has encouraged him to continue on with the crowdfunded project.

“It never occurred to me that the industry would rally like it did, and that people would then invest, not only in Wildman, but in helping me to save GPG and the team (in fact, it’s probably the other way around, and I think the Kickstarter has become about saving a company and the game is a distant second),” said Taylor.

Since he released a video talking about the state of Gas Powered Games, the Wildman project now has roughly a quarter of the funds it needs with well over three weeks remaining. “I don’t want to make any assumptions at this point, but things look much better, and I think it’s still going to be a long road ahead, but we’re prepared to work very hard to make this happen,” said Taylor. “And I’m already making phone calls and setting up meetings to talk to key people about coming back, to see the campaign through. At least now, everyone has their eyes wide open, no surprises.”

While there has been some criticism for the layoffs, many of those former employees support the decision for a few reasons. “I was one of those laid off that will be back to work tomorrow regardless. I want to see this succeed,” said Matt Kehm. “Chris went over it in his video update Friday, but the reason why he did not keep us longer was the fact that if he would have kept us on for the month, and the campaign failed, there would not be enough money left to give people severance packages. By laying people off now, everyone received severance pay.”

“Many of us are returning to work tomorrow to make this campaign a success. For me, this goes beyond a paycheck. It is a company I love. I will do everything in my power to see that it does not close its doors,” Kehm concluded.

Source: Polygon