Initial demand highlighted a few issues with the server to the company, who looked into the game’s usage to discover that demand was far outstripping sales. Further investigation showed a 10-1 ratio of pirates to paying customers.
While many games can cope with fairly extensive piracy, Battle Dungeon was a purely multiplayer experience and as such had high back end demands, for every game. All of which the company had to pay for.
Hunted Cow did not want to create a game in which players with deep pockets could achieve more than players putting in time to train and equip their party, so the game was created as a paid app. The company is currently reviewing whether the game can be redesigned to accommodate a purely In-App-Purchase driven business model.
In the meantime, Hunted Cow is offering players who paid for the app a full refund.