'Police Warfare' pitch looks to become reality with Kickstarter
It was originally labeled as a pitch for the future of Call of Duty, with no plan to create a finished product. "The intent was to create a sweet game pitch and see what people thought of it," Police Warfare producer Shawn Wallace tells Joystiq.
After the video exploded on YouTube, the team behind it realized they had hit on something. "There was such a strong response on YouTube from people who are clearly gamers who want this, which sort of validated our feelings for how strong the concept is," Wallace adds.
Today, Police Warfare becomes the next in a long line of indie projects looking for funding via Kickstarter.
As the name implies, Police Warfare pits cops versus robbers in an online, 32-player warzone, complete with vehicles. The action is set in Los Angeles, the birthplace of SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics). The Kickstarter page describes multiple online modes, including a Battlefield 3-style 'Rush Mode.'
Being developed under the banner of a new independent development house dubbed Elastic Games, Police Warfare is the product of former Ubisoft, Epic Games, Activision, and Electronic Arts employees. The team, lead by Wallace and lead game designer James Wearing, has an impressive list of titles to their name, including Crysis and Crysis 2, Grand Theft Auto 4, Assassin's Creed 2, and the upcoming shooter, Far Cry 3.
Elastic Games is looking for $325,000 to complete the project, offering a multitude of extras for donors, including a Kickstarter-exclusive class.
The inspiration for the game comes from various products including Battlefield 3, Grand Theft Auto 4's multiplayer, and the Michael Mann thriller, Heat. Wearing and Wallace say the game will be exclusive to PC initially, but they hope to expand to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, using Battlefield 1943 as an example of a downloadable, online-only shooter that has captured attention on consoles.
Stay tuned for an exclusive look at the development of Police Warfare and more details from producer Shawn Wallace and lead game designer James Wearing.
