Project GT Studio Says Kickstarter Was A Scam, But Car GIrls Are Definitely Real

In a surprising update, it looks like the previously reported kickstarter for car-girl game Project GT may have been a scam.

On Bilibili, a studio named Siphon Studio has come forward as the real developers of Project GT, claiming that their development materials were stolen then leaked online as part of the fake kickstarter. 

"Recently, we have discovered that an external organization is impersonating our company on the overseas crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to conduct a fraudulent crowdfunding campaign for the project currently in development, *Code Name: GT*", the statement reads. 

"Upon verification, the leaked materials originated from an early-stage business plan (BP) shared within the industry, which was disclosed by a partner."

After the game gained virality, the kickstarter was mysteriously taken down- likely a result of Siphon Studio having discovered their IP was being used fraudulently. 

According to the developers, they have already been in contact with Kickstarter, and urged anyone who had donated to the campaign to request a refund. 

What Does This Mean For Project GT

Thankfully, the idea of humanizing sports cars wasn't entirely fake- as per our own communications with Siphon Studio, development on the game is very much real- someone had just gotten a hold of their internal materials and used it to make a quick buck on Kickstarter. 

For those out of the loop, Project GT was pitched as a game made by developers with pedigrees from miHoYo, Netease and Tencent- featuring personified sports cars that you race and fight with.

Originally, the game was announced via a kickstarter, where it gained virality despite the revelation now that the page had nothing to do with the original developers.

The initial kickstarter had several red flags- for one, the page didn't identify a name for the development studio, and only asked for USD2,000 in funding. 

Kickstarter has not issued a statement on the issue, or if refunds will have to be requested manually.