Artwork from “Crowfall,” a new Austin-based MMO raising funds on Kickstarter. Credit: Artcraft Entertainment Inc.
As it enters its final 24 hours, the Kickstarter campaign for a new massively multiplayer online game (MMO), "Crowfall" looks like it will at least double the initial $800,000 goal. That funding is in addition to $2.3 million in seed funding the company, ArtCraft Entertainment Inc., previously raised.
The game, led up by two Austin game studio veterans, Gordon Walton (“Ultima Online,” “The Sims Online,” “Star Wars: The Old Republic”) and J. Todd Coleman (“Wizard101,” “Pirate101,” “Shadowbane”), is a fantasy online combat game with a twist: while characters in the game are permanent creations, the worlds they fight in are finite, expiring after a few months (or four seasons in the virtual worlds of the game).
In addition to Walton and Coleman, about 15 other staffers are listed on the Kickstarter page, veterans of games including “EverQuest” and “DC Universe Online.” Based on the Kickstarter timeline, the game would be released December of 2016 and would include lots of bonuses for backers who contribute $60 or more. Anyone who pays $40 will get a digital copy of the game, which is expected to retail for $50.
As of this writing, "Crowfall" is the third-highest crowdfunding for an Austin-based video game, behind "Star Citizen," which is still going with nearly $76 million and Richard Garriott's "Shroud of the Avatar" which raised $1.9 million on Kickstarter in 2013. The "Crowfall" campaign concludes Thursday at 7 a.m. central time.
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