Shadow of the Eternals relaunches Kickstarter campaign, ditches episodic format
Ex-Solid Snake actor David Hayter will be in it.
The Eternal Darkness spiritual successor Shadow of the Eternals failed to build much momentum in its cancelled crowdfunding campaign, but now developer Precursor Games is at it again, starting a new Kickstarter for the re-calibrated project.
So what's changed in the last month and a half, you ask? Well, it's no longer episodic for one. Initially Precursor wanted to make a 12 part series and it needed $1.5 million just to make the first episode of Shadow of the Eternals. While the developer insisted future installments would be cheaper, it still raised concern that the studio could fail to meet one of its later financial goals and leave the series incomplete. Now Precursor wants Shadow of the Eternals to be an 8-10 hour complete experience that focuses on just one story - in this case notorious serial killer Erzsébet Báthory and her handmaiden/lover Klára.
Additionally, Metal Gear Solid actor and X-Men screenwriter David Hayter has agreed to lend his vocal talents to the game as detective Paul Becker, a modern day Louisiana gumshoe who's investigating the case of two amnesiac massacre survivors that inexplicably want to kill each other.
Last time out, Precursor wanted $1.5 million, but now it's only looking for half of that. How come? According to a Polygon interview with Eternal Darkness creator Dennis Dyack, Precursor has found extra funding elsewhere, but it's not saying where at the moment.
While Shadow of the Eternals is still being developed for PC and Wii U, Precursor added a new stretch goal to bring it to PS4 as well, though the specific amount it would need for this has yet to be announced.
$20 pledges will grant backers a copy of the game on PC or Wii U with extra in-game item upon its estimated October 2014 release, while $50 comes with a digital soundtrack and exclusive forum access as well.
Last time around Precursor only raised a cumulative total of $284,000 between its PayPal and Kickstarter campaigns when it pulled the plug after 25 days (it had 13 left). This time it only has 30 days to raise $750K. Will these new changes be enough to bolster the enthusiasm needed for Precursor to fund its game? Hard to say, but in less than a day it's accumulated $49,975 and has until 23rd August to make up the rest.
