Over the past few days, retrogaming fans have seen several updates and videos circulating about Paprium, the homebrew game developed for the Sega Mega Drive. While much of the community is already familiar with the case, a quick recap is in order for those who haven’t followed the many twists and turns of WaterMelon’s ambitious project.

When it comes to beat'em ups on retro consoles, few projects have sparked as much discussion as Paprium. Announced with great fanfare in 2012 by the studio WaterMelon, the game promised a groundbreaking experience on the Mega Drive, featuring impressive visuals, a custom chip dubbed DATENMEISTER, and technical ambitions rarely seen on the platform. But behind the promise lies a long, chaotic, and still highly controversial story.

An ambitious… and mysterious project

Codenamed “Project Y,” Paprium was born in the post-Pier Solar euphoria — a well-received homebrew RPG by the same team. Pre-orders opened in 2017, gameplay videos made waves, and retro fans lined up. But then the delays began piling up. The studio cited production issues, PayPal account freezes, and missing components… but remained vague and frequently silent.

First shipments… and first controversies

It wasn’t until December 2020 that some backers finally received their copies. But not everyone was so lucky: a large number of orders were never fulfilled. Worse still, some users reported that the cartridge could crash — or even damage — their console. The DATENMEISTER chip, intended to give the Mega Drive a boost, turned out to be unstable on certain hardware revisions.

A new Kickstarter… and more disappointment

In 2021, and against all expectations, Paprium returned with a new Kickstarter campaign, this time to fund ports on PS4, Switch, Steam, and Dreamcast. Nearly €900,000 was raised. But as of today, none of these versions have been delivered. Frustrated backers have grown impatient, and communication remains almost nonexistent. Some have now gathered on the website papriumcase.com in an attempt to seek justice or refunds.

A Time Extension article provides more detail on these actions:
👉 Campaign To Secure Refunds For Paprium Kickstarter Goes Live

A leaked ROM as a final form of payback?

In July 2025, a new twist: the Mega Drive ROM of the game leaked online. Hackers quickly adapted it to run via RetroArch, thanks to a modified Genesis Plus GX core. For backers who felt betrayed, this was a form of revenge. For others, it’s a sad symbol of what Paprium could have been — even though, officially, the project is still under development.

To learn more about this development, check out the article from Megaforce Magazine.

A lesson for the homebrew scene

Paprium remains a curious case. Visually stunning, technically bold, but plagued by poor management and a complete lack of transparency. In the world of crowdfunding, it’s a reminder that ambition alone isn’t enough — trust, communication, and honoring commitments are just as important.