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The Realm fails to meet Kickstarter goal, plans US-based relaunch later this year
Atomhawk Design and Lantern Interactive's Kickstarter for its point-and-click adventure game The Realm has failed to reach its goal of £195,000 (about $300,000), but it says the project isn't dead yet. Despite not getting the money it needed, The Realm ended up as one of the top UK-based game Kickstarters to date. Being based in the UK was one of the main issues, however, as users in the United States weren't able to contribute directly due to Kickstarter's funding rules. So Atomhawk and Lantern have decided to relaunch the campaign later on this year, this time from a US-based account. Potential contributors were also asking to see gameplay footage, so that will be a priority next time around. In the meantime, the team asks that anyone interested in getting more updates on the game sign up to a mailing list. "We may not have have won the battle," says The Realm team's post, "but the war is not over yet!"
Navigating The Realm: How two studios are building an adventure
Apart from some gorgeous concept art, some game design mock-ups and a look at its Unity-powered innards, we haven't really seen much of The Realm. You'd be forgiven for thinking it was a brand new project, but planning for the point-and-click adventure began over a year ago. Art studio Atomhawk Design, which has produced art for games like Mortal Kombat, Dead Island, Driver: San Francisco and Enslaved, began working on the concept for The Realm 18 months ago. Meanwhile, Lantern Interactive technical director Tom Szirtes was looking for a new project. "I met up with [Atomhawk creative director Ron Ashtiani], who I used to work with at a company called Computer Artworks, and we've remained friends for a long time. We met at GDC in San Francisco actually, last March, and he was showing me the graphics that they'd made." "So I suggested, 'Okay, let's try and make a game out of this.' And so that's really where it started off." It began as a part-time project, but eventually became a full-time endeavor. It became clear that the two studios couldn't make The Realm into the game they wanted it to be without some help, and so they turned to Kickstarter.%Gallery-187723%
The Realm's game design concepts explained in Kickstarter video
Atomhawk Design recently updated its Kickstarter page for The Realm with a new video explaining the game's design details. The video shows the game's designers elaborating on their inspirations for The Realm, including aspects of popular point-and-click adventure games the team avoided in creating the game, such as deep inventory management. Members of the Atomhawk team also describe the ways that the game's two main characters, a girl named Sarina and her golem friend Toru, interact to solve puzzles. The Realm has 16 days left in its Kickstarter campaign to reach its goal of £195,000 ($297,000), of which the developer has currently raised £50,497 ($78,593).
The Realm is about a girl and her golem, seeks Kickstarting
The Realm is being developed by Atomhawk Design, a studio that specializes in art production. Having worked on several well-known games – including Mortal Kombat, Dead Island, Injustice and Enslaved, among others – Atomhawk is now trying its hand at an internal project, The Realm.A point-and-click adventure game that draws inspiration from Monkey Island, Machinarium and Ico, The Realm tells the story of a girl, Sarina, and her stone golem, Toru. Controlling both characters, the player solves environmental puzzles using the abilities of each. From the sound of things, Toru's immense size and strength will probably come in handy.Atomhawk is seeking £195,000 ($297,000) to fund The Realm on Kickstarter. The goal is to put the game on PC, Mac and tablets within approximately eight months.
From the ashes of Midway Newcastle, Atomhawk Design rises
One of our favorite things about the game industry (not the game business, mind you) is its unflappable resilience. Take, for instance, the story of Midway Newcastle. Even after the staff got a 60-day warning of the studio's imminent closure and was shut down preemptively, some members of the team were able to band together and form a new company, Atomhawk Design.Billing itself as "a leading creative visualization and digital art production company," Atomhawk plans on creating digital art for not just video games, but also "film and online." We're not sure how much of the ex-Midway Newcastle folks made the jump to the new company, but we've asked Atomhawk for comment.
