PayPal Has Frozen Skullgirls’ Account After Indiegogo

Lab Zero, the developer behind Skullgirls, just can’t seem to catch a break. After raising over $829,000 to help expand the title with free downloadable content, new characters, new stages, new voice packs, and more, PayPal has become afraid that fans, who are unsatisfied with the game, will demand chargebacks for their donations if their favorite characters do not get voted in during the Mystery Character Vote.

For those who don’t know, Skullgirls raised enough money to make five new DLC characters, two of which will be voted on by fans. The vote has been narrowed down to a simple top four at this point, and fans of the other 28 characters who didn’t make the cut are doing their normal internet thing and complaining about how the game has gone to hell and they won’t play it anymore. This is, essentially, what has gotten Paypal paranoid.

“I think it’s sketchy, but their logic sort of makes sense,” wrote Lab Zero CEO Peter Bartholow on NeoGAF. “Basically, they are terrified of chargebacks. If we spend all the money and don’t deliver and everyone chargebacks, PayPal is concerned they will be on the line. So, they are effectively treating it as a loan. I mean, the guy flat out said: ‘Until the threat of chargebacks has passed, PayPal is effectively financing your development.’”

Barthalow is, in his own words, “not f***ing around with this sh*t” and is ready to escalate the situation if need be. “They also asked if we're good for the $700,000 if something goes wrong. I said "No," because, well... we're not? The whole point of crowdfunding is to give us the money to develop stuff, not take out a loan.”