Project Eternity Shatters Kickstarter Record

A New Paradigm

Project Eternity, the Obsidian Entertainment (Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: Stick of Truth) developed title which recently took up funding on Kickstarter, has successfully reached its goal by drawing some $3.9M to fund the project. The amount of money collected supersedes the $3.3M Double Fine (Pyschonauts, Costume Quest) collected for their Double Fine Adventure, setting a new record for the crowd-sourced funding site.

Project Eternity is interesting because it's a throwback to the way that RPGs used to be designed in the late 90s, from an overhead, isometric perspective. The amount of money the Kickstarter project generated proves there are enough fans of the genre to support development of such a title. And yet Obsidian would have been unlikely to secure funding for such a title through any of the conventional video game publishers.

By going to fans for funds, Obsidian is able to develop a title where they are not at mercy of a publisher pushing for a specific release date, something that they admit plagued both Fallout: New Vegas and Knights of the Old Republic 2. By removing being answerable to a publisher, Obsidian has the freedom to develop the game as they see fit, and to release once they feel the game is up to their standards.

But it's not an option for everyone. Both Obisidan and Double Fine were able to secure such large amounts of funding because they are both well-respected in the industry. For indie publishers, such an amount would be ludicrous to even try to fathom, and there are indie titles that fall far short of their goals. Many of them are quite a bit lower than Obsidian's goal of $3.5. The very spirit of Kickstarter is to help people complete and fund projects they wouldn't be able to otherwise, and surely many of the projects completed on the site are success stories of the same nature, but for every Obsidian and Double Fine success there are multiple projects that go unnoticed and unfunded. I will most likely pay for and play both Project Eternity and Double Fine Adventure when they eventually release, but not without wondering what other games I might have been playing if publishers let their developers have a bit more slack in the development process (crunch hours in the gaming industry are notoriously atrocious), as well as creativity when it comes to design decisions, freeing up Kickstarter for pure hobbyists instead of industry insiders like Tim Schafer and Chris Avellone.