The author of the original game twenty years ago in 28 hours scored more than $ 400 thousand to develop a remake: a turn-based role-playing cyberpunk game for iOS and Android.
Last February, Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert (if anyone suddenly does not remember, these are the authors of Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango and many other wonderful games) discovered that it is not necessary to communicate with numerous producers to develop a dream game, convince them that the project will pay off, and after trying to sit on two chairs, wanting to please hardcore players and a mass audience. It turns out that it is enough to contact the players directly: ask them to chip in to the game through a special Kickstarter service. So in a month, the legends of quest building collected $ 3.3 million, although they asked for only $ 400 thousand.
A month later, another gaming legend – Brian Fargo (ideologue of Fallout and Bard’s Tale) – also turned to the players for help. Asking for $900 thousand, he promised to make a continuation of the cult role-playing game of the 80s – Wasteland. Considering that it was her concept that formed the basis of Fallout at the time, the money was found quickly – in two days. At the moment, the players have donated a little more than $ 2 million to the development.
A month passes – April is in the yard – and Jordan Weisman, the founder of FASA Corporation, the man behind the BattleTech, Crimson Skies and Shadowrun universes, as well as the MechWarrior series of PC games, comes up with another similar initiative. He is taking the initiative to make Shadowrun Returns, “an isometric turn-based, single-player game with a good story, well-developed characters and tactical battles” for iOS and Android. In general, it’s like a dream game.
And in just 28 hours, the required $400,000 is recruited again. Moreover, at the moment, almost $ 534 thousand has already been collected in favor of the game. And, it is quite possible that when the fees stop (they are usually given a month), the figure will be much larger.
A few words about the game and the universe
Shadowrun was originally a tabletop role-playing game (a la Dungeon & Dragons). Against the background of competitors, the game was distinguished by a bright universe. It is thanks to her that the Shadowrun brand got its development. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that, based on her motives, a cult role-playing game with the same name was released on the SNES in 1993.
However, Jordan Wiseman is not going to revive it so much as the now-forgotten genre of isometric role-playing games, which did not receive its development after the release of the second part of Fallout 2, and at the same time, interest in one of the most underrated universes.
Shadowrun is a mix of cyberpunk and fantasy, where punk elves push dope, and dwarves, traveling through the cyber network, steal funds from megacorporations, a world where cyborgs act against magicians, and orcs serve in special forces.