Canadian developer Precursor Games has launched a crowd-funding campaign for their debut title Shadow of the Eternals, the spiritual successor to the widely-popular horror game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, according to the official website.
The campaign, which is now up on the game's website, asks for $1.5 million to produce the series and fund game engine and system development. Additional money raised will contribute to in-game perks, additional gaming platforms, and other features.
A minimum donation of $5 gets players free access to the Pilot and exclusive membership in The Order of Unseen. which allows players to contribute ideas to Precursor. The trailer asks players to "join the order."
Perks for higher sponsors are available on the website and include things such as access to season one (12 episodes), the soundtrack, and a personal dossier in the game.
The main question here is why the studio resorted to crowd-funding. Considering it is billed as the spiritual successor to the cult-classic Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, which has since become a prime example of the survival hour genre, along with still being one of the most unique experiences in gaming. Instead of going to publishers, the developers decided to go to crowd-funding to stay closer to the fans.
"The primary reason to crowdfund Shadow of the Eternals is because it allows us to work directly with our fans, and gain valuable feedback in developing the project. We can develop a rapport with our audience that would otherwise be difficult in a traditional setting."
The game, which will span 2,500 years of human history in an episodic series—according to a press release—will hopefully released in Q3 of 2014 on the Wii U and PC.
