Shadow of the Eternals Placed On Ice

[IanDavis]

Shadow of the Eternals Placed On Ice

After multiple failed funding attempts, Precursor Games gives it a rest.

When we last left Shadows of the Eternals, it had [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127147-Shadow-of-the-Eternals-Second-Kickstarter-Fails]just failed[/a] its second Kickstarter. This time, Precursor Games promised an even better game than before, complete with big-name voice actors and WiiU support, yet it only dragged in about half of its (newly lowered) funding goal. However, Precursor was adamant that it wouldn't give up on the horror game as it explored its options. Now, a month later, it has announced that it's placing the project on hold until further notice.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to put the Shadow of the Eternals project on hold," Precursor Games' Chief Creative Officer Denis Dyack [a href=http://www.precursorgames.com/forums/index.php?threads/precursor-games-update.2906/]announced[/a] in a forum post. "For those who are not aware, we all worked on this project as a labor of love and self financed 100% of everything for over a year to try to make Shadow of the Eternals a reality. Although we did not succeed on doing this, we succeeded in making many friends and starting something that we hope provided value for those involved. We have no regrets."

It's certainly not hopeful news for those looking forward to the project, but Dyack remarks that it's not exactly the end either. "Is the project dead? No, but we feel it needs a rest too. We have all agreed as a group that when and if the time is right we will get together and start it up again."

For those just tuning into the story now, Shadow of the Eternals has had a remarkably storied existence so far. What seemed like a fairly obvious slam-dunk sequel to a classic game has instead been a circus of [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127147-Shadow-of-the-Eternals-Second-Kickstarter-Fails]multiple failed crowdfunding campaigns[/a], [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125522-Precursor-Games-Founder-Arrested-For-Child-Porn]child pornography[/a], and outright [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125038-Dyack-Acknowledges-Personal-Noise-Put-Kibosh-On-Eternals]lack of faith[/a] in the developers. It certainly must be a discouraging experience for everyone involved, but that's the double-edged blade of crowdfunding: the crowds occasionally not want your game.

Source: [a href=http://www.precursorgames.com/forums/index.php?threads/precursor-games-update.2906/]Precursor Games[/a]

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[KeyMaster45]

Aaaaand cue all the people who foolishly threw money at a kickstarter campaign like it was an Amazon listing claiming it was a scam.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

Aaaaand cue all the people who foolishly threw money at a kickstarter campaign like it was an Amazon listing claiming it was a scam.

People who back Kickstarters are not charged if the campaign does not reach funding.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Aaaaand cue all the people who foolishly threw money at a kickstarter campaign like it was an Amazon listing claiming it was a scam.

People who back Kickstarters are not charged if the campaign does not reach funding.

Yes, but they've done this multiple times haven't they? That means that people have already contributed money to this project doesn't it?

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Aaaaand cue all the people who foolishly threw money at a kickstarter campaign like it was an Amazon listing claiming it was a scam.

People who back Kickstarters are not charged if the campaign does not reach funding.

Yes, but they've done this multiple times haven't they? That means that people have already contributed money to this project doesn't it?

The Kickstarter has failed every time. I believe the developers have mostly been footing the bill for this.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

that's the double-edged blade of crowdfunding: the crowds occasionally not want your game.

I think its less people not wanting the game and more people not trusting the Devs anymore than they can throw them.

 

[Yopaz]

A team that has made like two decent games a good while ago and has been putting out crap for almost a decade doesn't have luck with Kickstarter? Well that's a surprise! I would think people would throw their money at this project. The sad thing is that this game is soon losing all hope to be good. When they lower the goals for the campaign that means they're less likely to make a good one because they will be strained for resources. The extended development time means that they're falling behind the times and their development will be disrupted which might be why Duke Nukem Forever turned out the way it did.

Even if they were making a good game originally (which I kinda doubt at this point) they're slowly losing the chance for that to happen with this development cycle and low interest and funding.

Aaaaand cue all the people who foolishly threw money at a kickstarter campaign like it was an Amazon listing claiming it was a scam.

People who back Kickstarters are not charged if the campaign does not reach funding.

Yes, but they've done this multiple times haven't they? That means that people have already contributed money to this project doesn't it?

You have completely misunderstood how Kickstarter works...

 

[KeyMaster45]

A team that has made like two decent games a good while ago and has been putting out crap for almost a decade doesn't have luck with Kickstarter? Well that's a surprise! I would think people would throw their money at this project. The sad thing is that this game is soon losing all hope to be good. When they lower the goals for the campaign that means they're less likely to make a good one because they will be strained for resources. The extended development time means that they're falling behind the times and their development will be disrupted which might be why Duke Nukem Forever turned out the way it did.

Even if they were making a good game originally (which I kinda doubt at this point) they're slowly losing the chance for that to happen with this development cycle and low interest and funding.

Aaaaand cue all the people who foolishly threw money at a kickstarter campaign like it was an Amazon listing claiming it was a scam.

People who back Kickstarters are not charged if the campaign does not reach funding.

Yes, but they've done this multiple times haven't they? That means that people have already contributed money to this project doesn't it?

You have completely misunderstood how Kickstarter works...

No, I haven't. I misread the article in my sleep deprived haze and said something stupid.

 

[saintdane05]

And now:
Shadow of the Eternals
ON ICE!

 

[mad825]

A team that has made like two decent games a good while ago and has been putting out crap for almost a decade doesn't have luck with Kickstarter? Well that's a surprise! I would think people would throw their money at this project. The sad thing is that this game is soon losing all hope to be good. When they lower the goals for the campaign that means they're less likely to make a good one because they will be strained for resources.

They apparently had approximately 40k of votes for the Green light, one has to wonder how they made less than 300k in total, let alone failing Kickstarter. If every one of those Green lighters gave at least $20 they would've won it quite comfortably.

 

[Yopaz]

A team that has made like two decent games a good while ago and has been putting out crap for almost a decade doesn't have luck with Kickstarter? Well that's a surprise! I would think people would throw their money at this project. The sad thing is that this game is soon losing all hope to be good. When they lower the goals for the campaign that means they're less likely to make a good one because they will be strained for resources.

They apparently had approximately 40k of votes for the Green light, one has to wonder how they made less than 300k in total, let alone failing Kickstarter. If every one of those Green lighters gave at least $20 they would've won it quite comfortably.

Well Greenlight votes isn't the same as "I want to put down money for this right now", some of those will wait to see someone's opinion first. I'll bet that lots of the games that get Greenlit sell less than what they should based on votes because they don't feel like they have a duty to pay for it just because they said they would buy it if it hit Steam. 40k votes simply means that there are 40k people who would be interested in buying it if it gets made, some of those will be backers, but not all.

 

[mechalynx]

A team that has made like two decent games a good while ago and has been putting out crap for almost a decade doesn't have luck with Kickstarter? Well that's a surprise! I would think people would throw their money at this project. The sad thing is that this game is soon losing all hope to be good. When they lower the goals for the campaign that means they're less likely to make a good one because they will be strained for resources.

They apparently had approximately 40k of votes for the Green light, one has to wonder how they made less than 300k in total, let alone failing Kickstarter. If every one of those Green lighters gave at least $20 they would've won it quite comfortably.

It's one thing to vote for something and another to risk investing real money into something that most likely would never pan out. I was one of those who voted for SoE on Greenlight and was seriously considering to back in on Kickstarter too, but in the end I just don't trust people that put their faih in Dyack. The man may have brought Legacy of Kain into this world, but it has flourished without his further involvement, while SK shriveled up and died.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I never really cared for Eternal Darkness, so i wasn't particularily interested in a sequel and the controversies didn't help. I love horror games and have played most of the ones available on ps2 but I always found Eternal Darkness to be rather tame and kina boring with an underwhelming fight system. The only remotely cool thing about the game was the insanit effects but that was such a small part of the game. I didn't think the new one looked any better so i'm not that surprised it failed.

 

[Vivid Kazumi]

And now:
Shadow of the Eternals
ON ICE!

is that a nazi skating?

 

[Lieju]

Oh, I wanted the game, and would have thrown money at them if the studio had a better (recent) track-record and wasn't assosiated with certain people.

But I'm not terribly heart-broken, even if I would have bought the game if it ever came out.

 

[saintdane05]

And now:
Shadow of the Eternals
ON ICE!

is that a nazi skating?

Yes. From Mel Brook's excelent History of the World Part 1.
<youtube=ybuKQf9p5jg>
From the same movie:
<youtube=CqgZnvfJ9Jg>

 

[james.sponge]

Well the failure was obvious true but still it's a real pity the game didn't get funded. That gameplay demo had nice atmosphere and aesthetics and we don't get that many medieval horror games nowadays ;(