Fans of the original Wasteland had to wait 26 years for a second chapter.
Sequel to one of Kickstarter's biggest video game projects, the "Wasteland 3" adventure has begun on alternative crowdfunding site Fig with two new trailers and a $2.75m target.
With 1988's original "Wasteland" laying the groundwork for post-apocalyptic adventure franchise "Fallout," fans of the first had to wait 26 years for a second chapter.
Pitched in 2012, "Wasteland 2" was part of a crop of video game projects proposed by some of the biggest names in the industry.
Most notably "Broken Age," which accumulated a $3.45m fund as "Double Fine Adventure," showed that independent studios -- especially those run by well-loved veteran developers -- could see their passion projects funded by enthusiastic fans.
So it was that "Wasteland 2" proposed a return to its aged predecessor, with an updated aesthetic that recalled the first two "Fallout" games. Even when asking for a then considerable $1m, it emerged after a month with $2.9m pledged. That "Wasteland 3" should ask for $2.75m, then, is perhaps not as audacious as it first appears.
Two trailers released this week demonstrated what prospective backers could hope to see once the project is complete.
One was a live-action affair, with Brian Fargo, head of InXile Entertainment, wandering California with a CGI robot buddy and recruiting staff for the threequel's development.
The other showed an early scene from the game, with the 2019 game's more nuanced dialogue and close-up camera angle included.
Acknowledging that InXile already has two other crowdfunded titles in the works -- "Torment: Tides of Numeria" (at $4m, currently Kickstarter's biggest video game, due early 2017) and "The Bards Tale IV" ($1.5m, October the same year) -- Fargo and his team have switched crowdfunding sites from Kickstarter to the less well-known Fig.
Set up by several company founders from the video game industry, including Fargo himself, Fig proposes a crowdfunding model that attracts both players and investors.
Asking for $2.75m, the wintry-looking "Wasteland 3" stood on a $2.5m platform after two days. Three quarters of that was sourced from investment channels, the rest pledged by those that chose a copy of the game over financial returns.
It's not the first game to migrate from Kickstarter to the curated Fig, but it's already the largest. Space adventure "Consortium" raised $70k on Kickstarter at the second time of asking, in 2013. A far more ambitious successor, "Consortium: The Tower," switched to Fig for its own second crowdfunding attempt, and is currently on $348k.
To become the biggest Fig project to date, "Wasteland 3" would need to beat the $3.8m of "Psychonauts 2." That one comes from the "Broken Age" studio which, likewise, is owned by a Fig co-founder.
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