The Scholastics, a Romanian independent studio consisting of just two developers, is facing closure due to financial claims from American tech giant Autodesk, after it inadvertently launched unlicensed Maya software purchased from an unscrupulous third-party vendor.
The Scholastics, a Romanian independent studio consisting of just two developers, is facing closure due to financial claims from American tech giant Autodesk, after it inadvertently launched unlicensed Maya software purchased from an unscrupulous third-party vendor.
To urgently pay a huge fine and avoid a trial, the authors of the fantasy role-playing game Wigmund listed their project on Steam with a record discount of 87%.
As the developers note in their official appeal to the community, the unpleasant incident occurred a few months ago. The team purchased a license for Autodesk Maya, a 3D graphics, modeling, animation, and visual effects software, through a third-party online seller who turned out to be a scammer. In response to skeptical comments from users demanding proof, the authors published a redacted copy of the official demand letter from Autodesk.
According to the published documents, Autodesk recorded the use of two invalid serial numbers for just 23 days. Despite such a short period, the corporation demanded 14,742 euros from the developers. This amount consists of the cost of a three-year license (11,340 euros) and an additional 30% for «cost reimbursement». For comparison, the official annual subscription of Maya for independent creators costs about $300 per year. Thus, Autodesk demanded an amount that is dozens of times higher than the standard cost of software for the indie segment.
«We made a serious mistake — we purchased a Maya license from an unscrupulous third-party seller. Autodesk imposed a huge fine on us, which significantly exceeded the amount associated with the mistake itself. Even after we explained our situation as an independent team of two, they still charged the fine in full,» the developers shared.
After a lengthy dispute, the indie studio was forced to pay the full amount to avoid a lawsuit that would have guaranteed bankruptcy. With seven years of work at stake, the developers turned to gamers for financial help and launched a massive sale of their only game, Wigmund.
This is a story-driven role-playing game with an open world in a medieval fantasy setting, inspired by Celtic and Anglo-Saxon mythology, as well as the works of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.
The main feature of the project is a unique combat system, where the character’s sword movements are directly controlled by computer mouse gestures. The game was released in early access in February 2021, and its full release took place in March 2022.
The community’s reaction was immediate: the news quickly spread across social networks and mainstream media, and users began buying RPGs en masse to support the studio. Within a day, the developers announced that the threat of closure had been virtually eliminated — thanks to a wave of gamers' solidarity, the studio had raised funds to cover most of the sudden losses.
At the same time, the developers stated that they are drawing radical conclusions from this situation and completely abandoning Autodesk software. The team has already switched to Blender and plans to create future projects exclusively in this free, open-source editor.
