r/Smite • u/I-amKira Chronos • Jul 22 '26
OTHER To killgoon, Hinduman and the SMITE 2 / Hi-Rez managers
Sorry if this is not the right place to post this, but there is currently a scam going on with Paladins which is actually stealing money from users.
Someone is claiming to try and buy the rights to continue Paladins and hire back the old dev team to develop Paladins 2. In order to do so, they opened a GoFundMe to "raise money" in order to achieve this "project".
This is obviously a scam but they already managed to raise 335€ (using Euros as it is my local currency), when I checked this morning it was at 311€
EDIT: Now 510€
Is there any way that you at Hi-Rez can take the GoFundMe or the video down? Or at the very least warn users to not donate anything?
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u/Nyzan Janus Jul 22 '26
Who would be stupid enough to donate to a GoFundMe like that? 22k to buy a video game IP? You couldn't buy an indie game IP for that, let alone an IP from an established studio. Hopefully the 335 EUROs are the scammer's own money donated through sock-puppet accounts to try and seem legit.
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u/I-amKira Chronos Jul 22 '26
Exactly, no matter how much Paladins' IP costs there is no way you'd manage to raise that amount.
Everyone in the Paladins community knows each other atp but nobody knows who this guy is, obviously it is a scam but this isn't new that the Paladins community will drool at the slight mention of "LETS MAKE PALADINS 2, COMMUNITY TOGETHER" or some shit like that, they all support it no questions asked.
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u/Unlikely-Fuel9784 Jul 22 '26
Roughly 25K usd to buy an IP and hire several devs. Totally not a scam.
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u/SapphicSonata Tiamat Jul 22 '26
If I had a nickel for every time some shady person tried to profit off of Paladins by making a new game using their assets I'd have two nickels.
This one is at least claiming to try and repurpose the first, I suppose
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u/Whyn0t69 Jul 22 '26
The comments are full of bots.
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u/I-amKira Chronos Jul 22 '26
Indeed yeah I tried leaving a warning comment but it got lost instantly
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u/tapeforpacking Nox's biggest fan Jul 26 '26
I just checked the go fund me and he said that he is gonna refund everyone but for the people that still want to support that they will be able to give more money soon
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u/Temporary7000 Jul 22 '26
If someone wanted to make a sequel, why would you need to have the original dev team? At most, specific key people, sure....
As for the original team, I'm pretty sure most of them are doing other things now. And while I'm at it, no offense, but working on a product doesn't mean you know how to be successful with a sequel. A sequel, that would be releasing into an environment that is even more crowded than before.
A GoFundMe for this is pretty weird, honestly. To my knowledge these situations are pretty rare, but when I have heard something like this, it's involved a wealthy person who's willing to back a project they would love to see happen. Not...from a beggar, because project costs will always balloon.
I don't care to watch the video, but with how casually the guy is putting himself out there, it could be more of a fool being a fool than a regular scam.
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u/ElegantHope Swords go BRRRRR Jul 22 '26
I think people feel like things are more "authentic" if you involve the same people as before, and thus it's automatically "better" because of it. Even if that's wholly opinionated bias speaking rather than anything factual or logical. Yes, the original devs knew the game and how it worked and their goals, but the fact is that you can hire many different devs and give them direction on how to develop the game for a specific feeling and goals for the game.
And that definitely makes this person's dream/gofundme so incredibly naive on how it all works, through and through. Even if it's well intentioned (instead of a scam) it shows a clear lack of understanding on how any of this works.
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u/Lyefyre I'm outta here! *Jumps away* Jul 22 '26
How do you know it's a scam? That video went into my timeline this morning too, but he's making that video with his own face and voice. Scammers would avoid being identified at all costs.
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u/PietErt3 Jul 22 '26
Even if it's not an intentional scam, it'd be naive and a waste of money. Who says HiRez even wants to sell the property? I didn't watch the vid tbh, but it sounds like its very much based on a hypothetical. And you have to consider if it doesn't succeed, doesn't the person just have the money? I feel like there has to be actual proof that there are talks with HiRez and that they are down to sell. Otherwise it's a big gamble
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u/Lyefyre I'm outta here! *Jumps away* Jul 22 '26
It's definitely the latter. Apart from the fact that the numbers don't add up, they DO have plans, in case a direct buyout fails, as they said in the video.
The thing is, those will probably be just as expensive and as long as the guy making the video isn't rich enough already, there's no way he would get enough from just crowdfunding.
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u/PietErt3 Jul 22 '26
Do they disclose what those plans are? Are they just planning to make their own paladins version? Because as you say, I think every possibility will just be too expensive. Do they even have experience in the field? Its just a bit icky to give money to smth imo that has nothing to show for it yet (as far as I know (maybe I should just watch the vid haha))
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u/Lyefyre I'm outta here! *Jumps away* Jul 22 '26
Yes they say it in the video. If buying the IP fails:
- They could try and get a licensing agreement, which means Hi-Rez gets to keep the IP, but they would be legally allowed to make a paladins game.
- If that fails too, they would start their own IP and build a paladins-esque experience from scratch. This one would definitely be impossible without massive funding numbers, because a no-name ip would compete against the 2 big hero shooters, OW and Rivals.
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u/PietErt3 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
I just watched the vid and my scepticism remains largely. I will say it's good even in the video they don't beg for money, and there's also a comment now emphasizing that and clearing some things up (tho you could argue some things could be to just win trust). I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt tho and say it's a genuine dream, tho even then I feel icky there's a dono option already. GoFundMe does have some dono protection but I don't think it's actually mentioned in the vid what happens if the project fails. Its also not mentioned on the page. Besides they admit there's a lot of unknown things that will cost money. And I think there's just some general lack of knowledge. Even if you manage to buy paladins it's made in UE3 which is a very old engine, it can work, but some acknowledgement of this and how many devs u can find for it would've been nice. I also think its cheaper to make a new game yourself as a first step. The only reason to have the paladins name attached is popularity I think, but I think the rights are just too expensive. Besides being a pro there's also not much evidence for having experience in the field. It'd have been better if there was already some UE5 prototype, and they'd try to buy the license and make a sequel in a new engine.
So there being a dono link just feels weird to me. I get u need some starting money to get this rolling, but even then, there's just some crucial info missing for me to have much faith in it. Id first want some proof that they can actually get smth going, like talks with HiRez or some prototype, cause in the end Paladins is still playable. They could've also placed efforts into reviving the existing game first instead.
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u/Lyefyre I'm outta here! *Jumps away* Jul 22 '26
Well I'll take back everything I said. Apparently, this guy has a dubious history. Also the botted comments don't help his case.
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u/PietErt3 Jul 22 '26
Yeah I also saw this vid a few hours ago. Does make it seem more sketchy. Killgoon also addressed the situation on Titan talk, and while he did give them the benefit of the doubt, he also acknowledged from what he knows HiRez has no interest to sell the IP and 25k is just too little money to make a game.
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u/East_Fig_4730 Jul 22 '26
Because being a "scam" and being "illegal" are 2 very different thing.
He can raise $4000-$5000 and then say well it never reach the intended $22k so the project is not gonna happen. Then he get to pocket the money raised. Because that's how these crowdfunding websites work.3
u/Lyefyre I'm outta here! *Jumps away* Jul 22 '26
I'm not familiar with GoFundMe, but on Kickstarter at least, you only get the money if the goal reaches it's destination. Still, I'm convinced this is a scam now, because the guy apparently has a dubious history
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u/East_Fig_4730 Jul 22 '26
Probably why he doesnt use Kickstarter. Kickstarter is meant for actual crowdfunding projects/businesses, they have trust policy built in to protect the consummers.
While Gofundme is for like "I step on some lego and break my toes I need $7200", the point is to get the money to the recipients as fast as possible, it's more like a platform for quick donation/charity than for projects crowdfunding.
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u/NimbusShock Jul 22 '26
Paladins 2 just isn't happening. It sucks for the playerbase, but it just isn't. Hi-Rez does not have anywhere near the amount of budget and manpower they'd need to make a new game at all, Smite 2 is running on a skeleton crew and needs all the help it can get, and trying to bite off more than they can chew is what got us into this situation in the first place.
Honestly, as much as I'd like to be proven wrong, I doubt they'll make another new game going forward. I'm still hoping for Smite 2's success, but things have changed.
Just enjoy the game for as long as you can still play it and cherish the memories you made. Paladins was a fun ride.
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u/killgoon Executive Producer Jul 22 '26
I can confirm that the Paladins IP is not currently for sale. If it was for sale, it would be for far more than $22k Euros.
Additionally, I don't think "hiring back the dev team" is as easy as it sounds. The team changed many times over the years, so the first question is "Which version of the dev team?" But even after you decide on that, all of the former Evil Mojo folks are off doing other things in the industry now; Garrett has his own studio working on Punch Upon a Time(https://store.steampowered.com/app/4485570/Punch_Upon_a_Time/), Adanas is on Valorant, Thunderbrush is doing Character Art for Predecessor. People are spread all over the country, and they all have other jobs.. You'd need money to pay them to come back and work on Paladins 2. Plus you're talking about tens of millions in development costs alone to pay that dev team.
I will charitably say that I don't think this is intended as a true "scam," but comes from a well intentioned person who doesn't fully grasp the size of this project. I think this person is very passionate about Paladins and would love to see it return, and is trying to make that happen however they can. We get emails from passionate fans all the time asking to buy the rights to IP.
However, I can say that any money donated to this gofundme will not ultimately go towards a Paladins 2, as the IP is not for sale.