Crowsworn’s Locked Demo Has Left Studio In An Impossible Position

Published Oct 16, 2026, 5:53 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 3,000 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, provided context on some AI drama, and revealed that Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on three occasions. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Crowsworn launched its Kickstarter in 2021. It set a goal of $125,000 CAD and quickly smashed it, raising 10 times the desired amount. It finished at $1,258,068, and developer Mongoose Rodeo aimed for a 2023 release. Naturally, with 10 times the cash, the game's scope expanded drastically, and here we are, near the end of 2026, with no game in sight. The title, which has a distinct Hollow Knight flavor, is being marketed by Hollow Knight's marketing exec, Matthew Griffin, and there is genuine hype surrounding the title. It's currently facing some major community backlash and is in an impossible situation, though. Only players who backed the game for $55 CAD or more have access to the demos, but after five years of waiting, other backers feel left out, so Mongoose Rodeo has a choice to make. Crowsworn Is Currently Facing An Unwinnable Demo Dilemma Crowsworn just received its most recent demo, and backers at the Curious Bird tier are enjoying their latest slice of the game. However, while a few thousand are playing the game "inspired by Hollow Knight, Bloodborne, and Devil May Cry," more than 10,000 backers and thousands of other eager potential buyers are desperate to get their hands on it. Since the demo's release, the Crowsworn subreddit has been hit with posts from unhappy fans. They argue that if Mongoose Rodeo has been unable to honor the 2023 release date, it shouldn't have to honor its commitment that only backers of the $55 tier get access to the demo. This has left the developers in a tricky spot. In a post on Kickstarter, shared on the game's subreddit, Mongoose Rodeo said, "It's not at our expense that we keep it away from backers... it's just we know it would be unfair to those who backed at the demo tier because that's what they wanted. And there's plenty of them that have voiced how upset they'd be if we suddenly offered the demo to everyone. "It truly would be unethical to give something that was promised exclusively to a specific tier and above." The team was challenged on this, and it laid out its two options plainly: "Option A) we stick by what we said, and backers that backed at a lower tier are frustrated and upset... but we're not really deceiving anyone. Option B) We cave and release to all backers, and then some higher-tier backers are upset with us, and completely justifiably... in fact, [they] may even have legal standing if they wanted to pursue that route since we explicitly failed to deliver on the value they paid for. In this case, exclusivity." It seems Mongoose Rodeo has no choice but to stand firm and continue limiting its demo to backers of the Curious Bird tier, but there is no winning move. Some portion of its audience is going to be upset one way or another; it just needs to make the most ethical decision. Demo or not, it remains my most anticipated indie. Systems Developer(s) Mongoose Rodeo Publisher(s) Mongoose Rodeo Number of Players Single-player Steam Deck Compatibility Unknown Genre(s) Metroidvania, Action, Adventure, Platformer, Soulslike