Areal, the game pitched as a colorful, open-world post-apocalyptic adventure from "senior ex-S.T.A.L.K.E.R. developers," found success on Kickstarter, but now the project has been suspended and all pledges have been canceled. According to a message sent to Kickstarter backers today, "A review of the project uncovered evidence that it broke Kickstarter's rules."

Now the developer has turned to direct funding through its own website in an effort to finance Areal.

The suspension of Areal's Kickstarter hit with less than 48 hours to go in its fundraising campaign. The developer, West Games, had raised nearly $65,000, well beyond its original $50,000 fundraising goal.

Kickstarter doesn't disclose why it suspends campaigns, but said it will take such action if campaigns misrepresent or fail to disclose relevant facts about the project or its creator; provide inaccurate or incomplete user information; or misrepresent support by pledging to their own project.

West Games' fundraising project was controversial from its very beginning. Fans of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and skeptics of Areal's ambitions criticized the developer for using footage and concept art from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The studio's fundraising goal appeared suspiciously modest for such an ambitious project targeting release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U, Windows, Mac and Linux.

Former staffers at GSC Game World — the developer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. — now at Vostok Games also cast doubt on the project and the hand that the members of the West Games team had in developing the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise.

West Games also had initially little to show of Areal's development during its fundraiser's early days, leading to accusations that the project was a scam. Observers of the project balked at West Games' recent Kickstarter update saying it was possibly contacted by Russian president Vladimir Putin asking to play the game's alpha.

Areal's developer has maintained that its project is legitimate and that West Games has been the subject of harassment and unfair news reports that are "unprofessional and show incredible personal bias." The studio released a gameplay prototype trailer last week.

In an official statement sent to Polygon, West Games says it's taking its fundraising efforts to its own website. It also implies that conflict between Russia and Ukraine is responsible for the harassment the developer has received.

Here's West Games' full statement: