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See games played quickly for charity at 12PM Eastern
If you didn't catch the Games Done Quick crew's summer charity run, you're about to get a second chance: the speedrun specialists are starting their winter campaign, Awesome Games Done Quick, at 12PM Eastern. The week-long event will see volunteers blaze through a mix of titles to raise funds for cancer prevention. It promises to be quite eclectic. Things kick off with Nintendo's frenetic shooter Splatoon, and you'll see both numerous classics (including the notoriously tough Battletoads) through to modern hits like Bloodborne. There are perks for donating, too, such as getting to influence the stream. Tune in below, and chip in if you're eager to support a good cause.
PlayStation charity gives you a chance to play with superstars
Think that downloadable game content is normally a waste? Sony will soon give you a good reason to splurge on those virtual goods. It's launching PlayStation Heroes, a PlayStation 4 app that encourages you to contribute to charities like Make-A-Wish, the USO and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Pay between $1 and $15 to buy a dynamic game theme (or $20 for a four-theme bundle) and you'll not only donate to a good cause, but get one or more chances at playing games with a superstar. In March, you could win a shot at partnering with snowboarder Shaun White in Destiny; other celebs in future months will range from Snoop Dogg to Dodgers center fielder Yasiel Puig. Heroes won't go live until February 24th, but you can pre-order the app now to get ready.
PAX South 2015: The Untitled Game is whatever you want it to be
The Untitled Game, better known as TUG, is one of the many recent titles that have earned a small crowdfunding fortune by shouting the word "sandbox" as loud as the internet will allow. The game's initial Kickstarter campaign raised $293,000; launching on Steam's Early Access marketplace helped Nerd Kingdom rake in an unspecified amount of additional dollars. The studio had a bold plan for an open-world, innovative crafting MMORPG, and it appeared as though players were ready to pay for it. Things haven't gone so swimmingly since then. Funding issues in late 2014 forced the studio to lay off around half of its staff. Many MMO industry followers have been wondering whether the project will ever be released or it's just another crowdfunded pipe dream. I took a look at TUG on the show floor at PAX South 2015 and talked to COO Brennan Priest about crowdfunding, layoffs, and killing things with axes. The one thing I can say for sure is that there is definitely a game here, and it seems as if it could be a good one.
PAX South 2015: Notes from a Star Citizen town hall
Star Citizen is such a big fancy deal that instead of having a panel or booth at PAX South 2015, Cloud Imperium booked a theater down the street and hosted 10 straight hours of forums and chit-chats with backers. That's right: There wasn't enough room in the PAX convention hall to accommodate all the Star Citizening Star Citizens needed to Star Citizen, so they had their own one-day mini-convention dedicated just to their game of choice. One has to respect a development team willing to spend the entire day with its community (for a nominal fee, of course). I'm sure Star Citizens were absolutely amped to pay the same amount of money as a PAX day pass to hang out with CI all day. Unfortunately, I attended only the evening town hall with Chris Roberts, which I would describe as impenetrable to anyone without a license to pilot one of Star Citizen's $350 ships. I did take some notes. I will try to parse them here.
PAX South 2015: Garriott and Long talk Shroud of the Avatar
In 2013, Ultima Online creator Richard Garriott took to Kickstarter in the hopes of funding an old-school, sandbox-y MMO. Titled Shroud of the Avatar, the new project would be built in Unity and aimed squarely at those MMO fans who longed for the days of player-driven economies, crafting as a focus instead of a side activity, and the ability to impact the game world in a real way. The plan worked. Shroud of the Avatar pulled $1.9 million on Kickstarter alone, almost doubling its $1 million funding goal. Since then, the team has been hard at work bringing Garriott's vision to life (and keeping backers happy). I spoke with Garriott on the PAX South 2015 show floor about crowdfunding, loot, and the mistakes of the modern RPG. I also got to play a bit of SOTA with the help of executive producer Starr Long, who kindly did not make fun of me when I was killed by the second mob in the demo.
Camelot Unchained funds sound engineer, looks to speed up world building
Dear Camelot Unchained: What's up with the duck? Is that your mascot? Does your artist love duck doodles? Or is it referring to a secret race in your game? Please let us know. Sincerely, Massively. Some good news for fans of this upcoming RvR title as City State Entertainment announced that it has crossed the $3,025,000 fundraising mark and thereby hit a stretch goal to hire a sound engineer for the game. Next up on the stretch goal docket is a "Hug the World" campaign at $3,225,000. If this target is hit, Camelot Unchained will hire more artists to "accelerate the building out of the game world" and improve the quality of other art assets.
Kickstarter successfully aided 1,980 gaming projects in 2014
We've been wondering around the office if crowdfunded MMOs are on the downswing after previous years' highs. It might well be the case, but even so, Kickstarter continues to be a funding powerhouse in the games industry. GamesIndustry reports that 1,980 gaming projects were successfully funded via Kickstarter in 2014, with a total of $89.1 million raised between them. Those projects were just a fraction of the year's 22,252 funded campaigns. For more Kickstarter and crowdfunding news, make sure to read Massively's Make My MMO column every week.
Isles of Eventide invites you to live as an animal
Playing as a Human or Elf has been done to death, so why not switch over to the animal kingdom? That's the premise of the fledgling Isles of Eventide (no relation to Rubies of Eventide), which is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. Isles of Eventide will invite players to inhabit the role of a canine, feline, or equine living on one of many islands in a magical archipelago. Survival against the elements, predators, and hunger will be one of the major themes of the game, although there will be less stressful features such as crafting and companions as well. Between adventures, players will get to travel to their own personal island, which can be customized with decorations and utilities. The team is seeking $50,000 CAD to get development going, although it certainly welcomes more. One of the stretch goals, at the $100,000 CAD tier, promises to add offspring that can be raised from birth.
Indiegogo's new service lets you quickly raise funds for personal causes (updated)
Crowdfunding sites are typically meant for companies with bright ideas, but they don't work so well for personal fundraising -- there's a lot of setup involved, and the fees you'll pay could be better spent on the cause in question. Indiegogo wants to make those personal campaigns relatively painless with its new Indiegogo Life site. The service is designed to get you raising funds for medical bills, school and similar causes in a matter of minutes. There also aren't any platform fees, so the money you collect is typically what you'll keep.
Star Citizen passes $60M in fundraising, becoming 'single, coherent vision'
Star Citizen appears to be unstoppable, with the in-development space sim passing the $60,000,000 crowdfunding mark this past weekend. The $60M barrier unlocked the Aegis Bulldog fighter stretch goal. Moving forward, Chris Roberts revealed the next few milestone goals: the Espera Prowler boarding ship ($61M) and the Genesis-class Starliner ($62M). "I think I speak for everyone on the team when we say it really feels like Star Citizen is starting to go from a series of modules to a single, coherent vision," Roberts said before teasing "a few more surprises" before the year is out.
AbleGamers Foundation raised over $100k in 2013
The AbleGamers Foundation, a nonprofit charity that helps makes gaming accessible for those with disabilities, raised more than $100,000 in 2013. AbleGamers told GamePolitics that the funds were gathered during events like Minethon and PAX East and were pooled with donations from businesses and livestreamers. In a look toward what's to come, AbleGamers COO and Outreach Chair Steve Spohn said the foundation has "really cool projects coming up this year." These will include partnerships, launching new technology, establishing new facilities for caretakers and other efforts to be unveiled in 2014. In addition to funding those projects, donations made in 2014 will help support AbleGamers' year-round grant program, which involved the Summer of Fun grant last June. You can find more information about AbleGamers' cause at its website, including examples of what your donations would make possible.
Life is Feudal begins Indiegogo campaign
Promising to deliver "realistic medieval" MMO, game developers from Russia are seeking crowdfunding to push hardcore sandbox Life is Feudal over the finish line. Bitbox has been working on Life is Feudal for over three years but recently decided that an Indiegogo campaign was needed to further finance the title to the tune of €200,000. "We have reached a point where additional external funding is required for us to complete the development and release our game, and we spent many nights and days weighing our options," the devs wrote on the campaign page. The project page has a good summary of this ambitious title's selling points, including a 441-square-kilometer seamless world, full terraforming, a rich crafting system, a no-target combat system, and the ability to track and hunt wild animals. We recently saw a trailer for Life is Feudal showing some of its potential. The game will be free-to-play with an alpha starting soon after the fundraising campaign if the money is raised. [Thanks to Alessio for the tip!]
Extra Life fundraising marathon begins tomorrow
It's once again time for gamers from around the world to come together for a cause with the annual Extra Life charity event. Every year, thousands of gamers commit themselves to playing video games for a whopping 24 hours straight from 8 a.m. November 2nd until 8 a.m. November 3rd. Participants are asked to raise money through their marathons by soliciting donations from family, friends, or even livestream viewers. In the end, all of the cash raised over the course of the event goes to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, where it's used to provide hospital treatment for children in need. But of course, if you're reading Massively, then you're probably an MMO fan, so perhaps you'd like to join one of your favorite MMO studios in its Extra Life efforts. Funcom, Trion Worlds, En Masse, and Turbine all have teams taking part in the event, so if you want to be a part of Extra Life and show your allegiance to one of those studios in the process, all you have to do is head over to that team's Extra Life page and click "join team." Not only do all players who register for Extra Life get a digital copy of Defiance and a RIFT starter pack (for free!) just for signing up, but many of the studios are holding events and prize giveaways for players who participate under their banners. Know of other MMO studios or individuals playing MMOs for charity this weekend? Share links in the comments and spread the love.
TechShop to relocate its Menlo Park workspace, wants your help funding the move
Do you appreciate TechShop's community-driven hackerspaces? If so, the company would like your help in keeping one of those facilities alive. TechShop has to relocate its original Menlo Park workspace before October 31st, and it just launched a $250,000 crowdfunding campaign to help cover the moving costs. Should the fundraiser prove successful, TechShop will reward contributors with both prizes and passes to a Halloween benefit party; it will also hand out gift memberships to military veterans. Those who want to give the Menlo Park workshop a second chance can make a pledge at the source link.
Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm surpasses Indiegogo fundraising goal
Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm, the enhanced version of indie PC fighter Yatagarasu, has bested its Indiegogo fundraising goal of $68,000 by almost an additional $30,000 as of press time. As a result, Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm will launch on PC "around February 2014" with GGPO netcode for online battles, a new song and new moves/voice acting for the game's eight returning characters. By having met its original goal of $68,000 in the first place, the game will also feature two new characters, an official English localization with "dynamic commentary" from well-known fighting game community personalities such as James Chen and UltraDavid, story rewrites and an arcade release for the Japanese version of the game, among other things. There's still about 30 hours left to contribute to the campaign and receive one of a multitude of reward tiers, otherwise prepare to deal a $15 combo to your wallet when the game is released next year.
City of Heroes spiritual successor plans Kickstarter for Sept. 8th
One of the candidates vying to be the spiritual successor to City of Heroes will be moving into its fundraising stage come this September. Missing Worlds Media's The Phoenix Project, is preparing a Kickstarter campaign for September 8th. The team says that if all goes well (read: the project gets the moolah it needs), the title could be launched by the end of 2015, although it's hoping to get an avatar creator in our hands by next summer. In an interview with Polygon, Technical Director Nate Downes said that the project is 25% to 33% done, although the game is being made completely by 136 volunteers who have other jobs or are full-time students. The Phoenix Project is being built using the Unreal Engine, as Epic has licensed the engine to Missing Worlds with no money down until the team gets funded. Downes hopes that fans will continue to rally to the cause: "This project has grown out of the community that was left behind when City of Heroes closed, so it's really just a lot of passionate people getting together to rebuild that home for themselves."
7 Days to Die has 27 days to raise funds
Excuse me, but you got your zombies all over my Minecraft. What, that's the intent? Well then, carry on! Dubbing itself "the survival horde crafting game," 7 Days to Die is appealing to Kickstarter patrons to help fund this new title to completion. The game puts players in an Arizona county that has largely survived nuclear fallout but is infested with zombies throughout. Players will scavenge for materials, level up classes, build up defenses to survive each night, and use destructible terrain and buildings to their advantage. It remains to be seen whether or not 7 Days to Die crosses over into MMO space; the creators boast a multiplayer feature that may be expanded if stretch goals are met. The Fun Pimps, the developing studio, is looking to raise $200,000 to expand its full-time team. We've got the pre-alpha trailer for you to check out after the break. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Kickstarter plans North American expansion, launches in Canada this summer
That's right Canucks, Kickstarter's launching in your neck of the woods before the midnight sun sets for the season. The crowdfunding site released a teaser page today, announcing that it'll open up to Canada-based projects later this summer. It's not the first site of its kind to accept submissions from north of the border, but if Indiegogo hasn't been drawing in the results you need, you'll soon be able to give it a go on another platform. The Kickstarter team is mum on an exact launch date, but with a bit less than three months left in summer, the clock is ticking.
Flipside controller tries again, thanks to iOS 7
The Flipside iPhone game controller was a Kickstarter project that began last year with an ambitious goal of US$135,000, raising only about $10k of that before getting canceled due to lack of interest. Things have changed since the project was shut down in January, however. Apple has announced iOS 7, and with it, a set of official SDK hooks for game controller support, which means we're going to see a resurgence in third-party controllers like this one. Now the Flipside is back, restarting its campaign on Indiegogo for a more reasonable $40,000. For $60, you can pick up an early founder's deal on the controller, which is set to be ready for use sometime next year. So far, the Flipside isn't exactly raking in the dough (it's earned about $300 as of this writing), but maybe the second time will be the charm. This definitely won't be the last we see of third-party controllers getting a big boost out of Apple's iOS 7 game controller hooks. Once the operating system is ready and out in the public's hands, we'll see many more of these units become available. Who knows -- maybe if Apple sees a market for controllers like this, we'll eventually see an official controller designed in Cupertino. It would certainly be a great way to kick off the market for apps on the Apple TV.
Heavy Gear Assault adds single-player, Oculus Rift to Kickstarter
Heavy Gear Assault has swapped out its parts and announced new goals for its fundraising project, including single-player episodes and Oculus Rift support. Stompy Bot Productions is looking to raise $800,000 on Kickstarter and has donation options on its own site. Currently the game has generated $26,000 with 33 days to go on Kickstarter. At $800,000, Heavy Gear Assault will now get episode one of an offline, single-player campaign. Episode two is a stretch goal of $900,000, episode three is at $950,000, and at $1 million, Stompy Bot will throw together a single-player/co-op mission generator. This weekend, Stompy Bot announced Heavy Gear Assault will support Oculus Rift, but has yet to divulge information regarding a development schedule or how that affects fundraising.
