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What Kickstarter’s biggest hits did next
Now their first games have launched, here’s what Kickstarter’s biggest hits are working on.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted
© Big Robot
Crowdfunding site Kickstarter has removed barriers to success for game makers. Instead of capturing the interest of a big studio or publisher, and having to jump through all the inevitable hoops, they can just put the idea in front of the fans and watch the money roll in. But what have some of the biggest success stories been up to since their first game or gadget went on sale? Let's find out.
Ouya
Things have gone a little quiet for Ouya, but it recently hit a milestone: at the end of November, it announced it now has 1,000 games available. These range from classics like Sonic The Hedgehog and Doom, to homegrown titles like Reagan Gorbachev (in which the two heads of state are kidnapped by extremists and have to fight their way out). It also recently released the Chickcharney update, which adds features like 'Community Content', which lets you share stuff you've made in a game with other players in the community.
The console's head Julie Uhrman initially promised a new Ouya every year, but that's yet to materialise since the console went on sale – fingers crossed we'll see something soon.
Oculus Rift
The mighty Oculus Rift raised a phenomenal $2.4 million on Kickstarter, and while it's still not on sale to us mere mortals, it has made significant progress. The company was bought by Facebook, for instance, though Zuckerberg insists he won't interfere. (If we start getting friends' status updates while immersed in a virtual reality world, we're going to throw a wobbly.)
Earlier this year, it released the second development kit of the Rift, so developers can get more of a feel for the hardware. One of the key features of the DK2 is the low-latency head tracking, meaning you shouldn't feel sick while playing – though some of the people in the video above come pretty close. It's aiming for a commercial release next year, so fingers crossed it meets it.
Shadowrun Returns
A little over a year since Shadowrun Returns was released, the maker Harebrained Schemes has unleashed a new version called Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director's Cut. And it's free to anyone who backed Shadowrun Returns, or downloaded the Dragonfall DLC. For everyone else, it's $14.99. The game features all manner of new combat visual effects and animation, and looks like another winner. Next up is a title called Necropolis, which promises to be "a game of brutal combat and survival, set in a magical deathtrap that shifts and reconstructs itself around you." Find out more here.
Broken Age/Double Fine Adventure
At the time, Double Fine Adventure (since renamed Broken Age) was the most backed Kickstarter project ever, until the Pebble smartwatch came along. However, it hasn't all been champagne and roses since then for Double Fine Productions. In late November, it announced that due to a publishing deal collapsing, it had to cancel an as-yet unannounced project and sack 12 members of staff. Also this year, it started publishing indie games under the moniker Double Fine Presents, including Escape Goat, and Mountain. Coming next year is Grim Fandango: Remastered, a revisiting of the classic puzzler that was headed by Double Fine founder Tim Schafer when he was at LucasArts. Considering Grim Fandango regularly tops critics' lists of the best games ever made, we can't wait.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted
Billed as a "stealth and survival game of robots, tea and death", this title is so quintessentially English it may as well feature a voiceover by Stephen Fry. It was released over the summer to very positive reviews; critics loved the mix of dark humour and eccentric violence. The multiplayer version is still in the works, but has been held-up due to networking issues and other bugs – it's hoped it will be released early next year. Another title called Lodestone is currently on hold too.
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