Now begins the stress test for the Kickstarter concept, as it relates to fans of supposedly dead genres.
Double Fine Productions has now earned over $3 million for its brand-new adventure game, and inXile Entertainment is looking for $900,000 to produce a long-awaited sequel to Wasteland.
Double Fine hopes to avoid crashing Kickstarter as its funding moves towards its 5:00 p.m. PST deadline by hosting a live stream of the final hours. As of this writing, Double Fine’s at $3.1 million.
And though Wasteland 2’s Kickstarter ambitions began much grander than Double Fine’s with a $900,000 asking price, it’s already looking clear players will respond by matching that with more. Right now, Wasteland 2 already has $160,000 in the Kickstarter bank.
“All of you are making my day,” said Wasteland designer Brian Fargo on Twitter. “We might really get Wasteland 2 made. It bring tears to my eyes.”
If you aren’t familiar with Wasteland, know this: Fargo founded Interplay, and helped produce, finance or design classics like Bard’s Tale, Descent, Baldur’s Gate and Fallout. A true pioneer.
Fargo even managed to convince original Wasteland designers Alan Pavlish and Mike Stackpole to come back for Wasteland 2.
Unlike some other Kickstarter projects, including Double Fine's, Wasteland 2 has scoped out what could happen with more money. Tthe project is budgeted at $900,000 but will require $1 million to make happen. If they only make it to $900,000, Fargo has pledged to pitch in the last $100,000. If the project moves beyond $1 million, there are plans for more maps, more music, more choices, and the porting the game beyond PC is possible.
"Like you, we’ve long dreamed of being able to bring Wasteland back,” reads the Kickstarter pitch. “If you share that dream, if you’ve always wanted to watch and influence the game design process from start to finish, this is your chance. If you’ve wanted to change the world and get the games you really deserve, then do it by funding this Kickstarter. The road to Wasteland 2 is there.”