Crazy Zaul said:
Isn't $1.1m WAY too little to make an even remotely half decent game? Especially to hold up to the previous games they mentioned.
As other people have said, they probably have other money to back that up.
But to add to that I would say:
Think about what it would be like to work without a publisher breathing down your neck saying, "Since we are publishing this and giving you money, we get a large say about what goes in it." A publisher would most likely steer them in different directions, and publishers sometimes steer developers into areas that cost more money because the publisher wants something extra to pull in revenue with something that "the kids are into these days". Usually said publisher is wrong, because most of their views on "kids these days" are wrong. They usually tend to forget that by looking at just the "kids these days" they are alienating half the demographic for gaming, considering that a good deal of kids that grew up with gaming are now not kids and are getting in their late twenties and even late thirties.
Think about what Obsidian could have done with KotOR 2 if they hadn't been hammered by Lucas Arts to finish in a year because LA wanted the game to be out by Christmas. In many respects, I would love KotOR 2 more than the first if it wasn't for the balls retarded ending. As we know, there was much more to that game, but because LA rushed it, it didn't get finished properly, and as we know, the community later helped put the rest of the game in with modding.
If I had the money, I would pitch in, but I doubt I will have the money by October.