American McGee cancels OZombie Kickstarter to pursue Alice films rights

American McGee is no longer pursuing the development of OZombie after cancelling the game's Kickstarter campaign in order to turn his focus to securing the film rights of his Alice franchise.

In a post on the game's Kickstarter page, McGee explained that technicalities in Kickstarter's fine print would not allow him to pursue the Alice film independently of the OZombie Kickstarter project as multiple Kickstarter projects can't be in development at once. McGee had previously added the Alice film rights as a potential funding goal in the OZombie Kickstarter campaign but failed to reach that tier.

"Since working to remove it from the Oz campaign we've been unable to launch it as a separate campaign here on Kickstarter," wrote McGee. "The submission has been rejected multiple times and our appeals have failed (multiple campaigns are not allowed). To launch a campaign for the Alice films rights means we must first shut down the Oz campaign.

"Second, we wouldn't consider shutting down the Oz campaign if it were trending towards success. As it is, we've reached 15 percent of our goal with 20 days left in the campaign. Projections suggest we'll hit 30 percent of our goal by campaign end. I've been telling myself to remain optimistic and see this thing through. But when the reality of our funding trend is combined with the pressure of the Alice film rights situation."

McGee added that there is a chance the OZombie campaign will make a return. The studio opted for Alice at this time as the window to secure its film rights was closing.

"Now we turn our attention to Alice," wrote McGee. "Securing these film rights would be nothing short of a major coup. We'd control a significant portion of Alice's future. Being able to produce animations, feature films and related merchandise means keeping Alice's world fresh, no matter what else might happen with the game portion of the property. I hope you'll join us in making this a reality."