The Kickstarter campaign for an underwater action/adventure game by the team that made Ecco the Dolphin has ended well short of its fundraising goal. The team wanted $665,000 to create the 3D ocean exploration game The Big Blue, but when the campaign came to an end two days ago the total was a mere $55,764. But designer Ed Annunziata isn't giving up, and in an update from April 20 stated that he was committed to creating the game “one way or another”.
So how will he do it? According to that update, one of the reasons for the relative lack of backer support for the campaign is that it's difficult to convince people of the merits of a game like this, because it's not easy to envisage. But Annunziata insists that the game does need the large budget, because of its “ambitious design” and the fact that it tries to “break new ground”. If only players could actually experience the game for themselves, Annunziata thinks, then they would realise that it's worth the attention.
And so, to give potential backers the chance to discover that The Big Blue is worth their hard-earned cash, Annunziata will create a less ambitious Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of “a slice of the whole game”, i.e. essentially a demo. The Little Blue will have a far more modest goal, and if funded will include a controllable dolphin and one other creature, song mechanics, two large explorable environments, private base-style ocean environments, at least ten significant creatures including at least one Leviathan, and quests. The Little Blue will also be completely free, but will include a direct link to the next Kickstarter campaign for The Big Blue.
Did you make a pledge towards the campaign for The Big Blue? Would the ability to play a slice of the game beforehand make you more likely to do so?
