Kickstarteris a fantastic website that allows people to share their visions with the general public, and allow people to put their money where the mouth is with support, helping the creator to fund their project. Often there will be several tiers of pledges, allowing people to give more money, usually for a few extra goodies if the project is funded. Only if the project meets its goals is the project created, and the people charged for their pledge.
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Many different types of projects can be found on Kickstarter, from clothes, to plushies, to board games and of course, video games. While a lot of these projects showed a lot of promise and garnered a following of excited fans, they never quite saw the light of day, with theprojects being canceled.
7Apocalypse Now
Based on the movie with the same name,Apocalypse Nowwas posted onto Kickstarter January 25th 2017, and it came with a lot of promise. Not only having the popular legacy of a major motion picture behind it,Apocalypse Nowwas also going to be the child of many major names in the games' industry that worked on major titles such asGears of WarandFallout,and even movie director Francis Ford Coppola supported the vision of the game.
It was due to bea foray into pyschological horrorwhile following the story of war. It could have been a fun, exciting and harrowing look into war and how it affects people, which are ideas that have been explored successfully before in other movies such asJacob’s Ladder. However, despite all its potential, it only crowd-funded $170,000 of its $900,000 goal and even that goal was just one fifth of its total development cost. January 27th saw the end to its brief, unsuccessful campaign.
6Rock Band 4 For PC
Rock Bandis a major successful rhythm game that sees players rock out to rock and alternative music tracks with controllers that mimic instruments such as guitars and microphones, allowing players to feel like they are part of the band. The fourth installment brought more rock goodness, releasing on XBox One and PlayStation 4with songs from legendary bandssuch as The Cure and Elvis Presley.
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There were plans and a Kickstarter campaign to beingRock Band 4to PC, tapping into another platform of gamers, with the ambitious ideas to allow Steam Workshop integration that would allow users to create and share their own songs. With an eye-watering goal of $1,500,000,Rock Band 4had one hell of a challenge to get greenlit. Raising only $792,817, Harmonix’s dream of a PC release forRock Band 4ended April 5th 2016.
5Midnight Stranger
Game remakes are not a niche idea, with many classic game titles being remade and reinvented for a modern audience on more modern hardware.FMV games are a different breed, combining the medium of video games with live action characters and environments, withMidnight Strangerbeing one of those titles. Originally released in 1994,Midnight Strangeris an experience that stimulated socialization that sees players in a club one late night, providing a realistic role-play.
The Kickstarter promised to release the game as a free browser game that would run on modern systems with some stretch goals if funded. But,Midnight Strangersdidn’t even meet its minimum goal of $13,000, which is one of the smallest goals for a Kickstarter game project. Yet, it only scared up $4,100, making it one of the least successful Kickstarter campaigns of all time.
4Allison Road
On the back ofPT’ssuccess and renown,many spiritual successorsreleased to offer gamers a replacement for the canceledSilent Hillsgame, with one of the most promising beingAllison Road. The prototype gameplay demo demonstrated the games subtle story that the player must piece together as they walk through a house clearly inspired byPT’slooping hallways, all the while trying to survive whatever dark entity stalks the hallways.
Lilith posted their project and vision onto Kickstarter, hoping to secure the funds to make their dream come to life. However,Allison Roadjust didn’t inspire enough confidence with fans, only raising $186,949 (£145,959) of its $320,201 (£250,000) goal. And though it is a significant chunk of money,Allison Roadis now list in limbo, its unsuccessful campaign ended in October 2015. Though the creators announced the development would continue under a different developer, nothing has been posted to their social media for years. It’s safe to say the project is as dead asSilent Hillsitself.
3Ever, Jane
An MMORPG set in the regency era based on the woks of classical author Jane Austen doesn’t strike as something destined for success, butEver, Janedid seem like it was going to take off from the ground running, but unfortunately it tripped and fell before it could be fully released. Its core gameplay revolved around intrigue andromance unlike other titlessuch asFinal Fantasy 14orWorld of Warcraft, promising a unique experience that intrigued enough players to fund it.
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It beat its $100,000 goal, reaching a total of $109,563 in pledges. Closed betas and a prototype gameplay were released to give people a taste of what was in store, but unfortunately the game never full released, and in late 2020, the servers shut down due to financial problems. Players got to see a taste of what could have been, and despite seeing the potential and willing to pay a subscription,Ever, Janejoined the list of doomed Kickstarter projects.
2Shadow Of The Eternals
Fans ofEternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiemmay have caught wind of aproposed spiritual successor,Shadows of the Eternals. It promised a survival horror experience, and with minds behind the original at the helm, this game showed a lot of promise, with fans hopeful for a game that would rival or even surpassEternal Darkness. It promised an adventure that would tap into the players deepest fears, with screenshots and trailers to give players a glimpse into their vision.
The Kickstarter launched with a lofty goal of $750,000, which proved a challenge to fund, with fans pledging only a total of $323,950. Precursor Games did a second campaign with a lower goal following their failed campaign, but that also failed to drum up the needed funds. Though the word ‘canceled’ was never used,Shadows of the Eternalhas been an indefinite pause since 2013, making it highly unlikely it will ever rise from the dead.
1A Vampyre Story: Year One
A proposed sequel toA Vampyre Story,Year Onewas to follow the tale of vampiress Mona De Lafitte, exploring the story of her imprisonment in Catle Warg, the place she escapes from in the first game, and meeting her sidekick Froderick the Bat. As with the first game,A Vampyre Story: Year Onewould have provided point and click gameplay anda charming, vampiric storylinebeating at the games center. With the original title being a cult classic among fans, its Kickstarter should have been a success.
However, the game was unfortunately discontinued following its failure to meet its goal, asYear Oneonly raised $77,413 of its $200,000 goal, the Kickstarter ending in tears July 1st, 2013. Despite this, the game would still continue development for a while, but the game ultimately never completed development, andVampyrefans never got to find out what could have been.
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