Laika Believes Kickstarter failed but was a 'great success'

Minicore Studios canceled the Kickstarter for Laika Believes, its space-dog action platformer, on August 2, one week before the project would have ended. It raised $12,082, which isn't bad – but Minicore requested $100,000 to implement sound assets and localize the game's first episode, The Sun at Night.

Mostly, Minicore saw Kickstarter as a platform for early players to provide feedback on the game and to cultivate "a true testing environment." In this sense, the Kickstarter was a success, Minicore Marketing Director Shelley Smith tells Joystiq.

"It was a great success in many ways," she says. "We've met so many new supporters and their feedback has given us a better sense of what makes Laika Believes special."

Now, Minicore is still developing Laika Believes: The Sun at Night, and the team is digging into the budget to unearth extra cash for those audio assets. The failed Kickstarter means localization will be delayed.

"We wanted that to be a day one thing, but now we'll have to look at different ways of getting that done," Shelley says. "Maybe some specific crowdsourced localization? We'll see."

Laika Believes: The Sun at Night is still going strong on Steam Greenlight, and Minicore hasn't given up on its pet project.

"In any case, it's onwards and upwards!" as Shelley puts it.