Indiegogo closes ZX Spectrum Vega+ collection due to late delivery

Indiegogo has discontinued the ZX Spectrum Vega+ retro handheld campaign. The reason is that the company is not keeping its promise to start delivering after February 20 and is not communicating clearly to people who support the campaign what is going on.

The company behind the ZX Spectrum Vega+, Retro Computers, stated in December that it was sure that the February 2017 deadline would be met, but according to the BBC, no Vega+ has yet been received by backers. In recent weeks, people who funded the campaign have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of delivery and Retro Computers’ refusal to respond to questions. The device should have been available for 100 pounds, converted and with VAT that comes out to 141 euros.

Indiegogo has decided to stop the campaign so that Retro Computers can no longer be promised any money. The maker of the handheld asked the BBC not to disclose the problems as employees would be threatened. However, publishing them would endanger them and also frustrate a police investigation into the threats, the company said, which also claimed that the article contained inaccurate facts. The company did not clarify what was wrong with the BBC report.

Retro Computers Limited had already raised more than 588,000 euros through Indiegogo. In March last year, the project had reached its target of 115,000 euros within two days. Initially, the handheld was supposed to be released in October, but the company decided to postpone it due to hardware problems, including the robustness of the buttons.

The creator of the original ZX Spectrum, Clive Sinclair, approved the project and was involved in its development. The handheld is aimed at gaming, in addition to a built-in LCD with a resolution of 256×192 pixels, an SD card reader and comes with a thousand games. The design is by the man who also designed the original Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum.