Drag Her game is shutting down and releasing for free
Drag Her! is a 2-D fighting game that features real-life drag icons, including Laganja Estranja, Kim Chi, and Alaska 5000. These icons are competing against each other to become the one true top, a Gay Elder with a cute robe, bragging rights, and ultimate power.
Having successfully launched through Kickstarter in 2022, Drag Her! released beta tests and new trailers throughout 2023, while also exhibiting at major events ahead of an expected launch. All the while during this time, they were searching for a publishing partner.
Sadly, the team announced yesterday via a social media post that this has not happened and they are shutting down development.
In the post on Instagram, the developers said:
“We come today with a sombre announcement, that after three years of development, we are shutting down Drag Her! and disbanding the team.
This is an especially painful decision brought about by a simple lack of funding.
Over the life of this project, we have pitched to a long list of publishers, platforms, and more looking to get Drag Her! picked up. Despite a groundswell of audience support, a fully funded Kickstarter, successful grant applications, and wonderful turnout at major game events – no amount of legitimacy we built culminated in a deal.
We have no delusions – we took a huge creative risk in a system stacked against our success. Still, we laboured in isolation, harnessing the talent of a small group of deeply creative and passionate people to create what is a fundamentally fun fucking game.
This is because for us, Drag Her! was a killer piece of gay media – a chance to showcase the sheer joy of queer culture – and an opportunity to move the community forward. A game that could normalise, equalise, and validate, rather than for us to the margins.
There is a deep disappointment in being unable to bring Drag Her! to her fully realised form. What we can do, however, is release what we have. Tomorrow [May 16th], Drag Her! Failure to Launch edition will be released for free on Steam – with three queens, local versus, and online multiplayer. We will share another post when it goes live.
To everyone who has supported us – the queens & kings, industry folks, and especially our Kickstarter backers – thank you. We are so grateful to you, and are heartbroken that we cannot bring the true vision of Drag Her! – the one you all saw and believed in – to life.
Now, in the spirit of the iconic BenDeLaCreme – we’re going home.”
While this tragic news that means we miss out on a fully-formed proudly LGBTQ game that celebrates an amazing art form. We’re still excited to get our hands on the free Drag Her! Failure to Launch edition.
Head over to the game’s Steam page NOW and support this iconic game that ultimately never was!
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