It has been a while since we’ve heard from Koji “IGA” Igarashi, the man behind the popular Castlevania games. He says he’s not done creating games yet, and has announced that he’ll be working on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, a 2.5D action adventure game in the gothic horror style. The man’s legacy is undeniably awesome, but he can’t do this alone. That’s why he’s turned to Kickstarter, a crowdfunding service, to call on his supporters.
Game publishers have told Igarashi that gamers are no longer interested in this kind of game, yet IGA believes otherwise. He has found partners who are willing to fund the project, but they have set a condition: Prove that people want this game, and he’ll get the funding he needs. He's got funding waiting for him, the Kickstarter campaign is meant to fund the stretch goals.
For any other person, the $500,000 initial goal would have been far too ambitious, but this is Koji Igarashi we’re talking about here. That initial goal was met and surpassed in just 4 hours, proving that there is still plenty of love for this genre. They didn’t make it very hard to support the project, with awesome backer rewards for everyone. Even the lowest tier gets Igarashi’s immortal gratitude. Prizes get even better when you throw more money at the Kickstarter, like a PC-exclusive beta for those who’ve chosen to pledge at least $60. Ayami Kojima – character designer and illustrator who’s worked with IGA on Castlevania titles – has also decided to show her support for the project: Her art will be on the packaging for the stuff that the $100+ tier backers are getting.
At the moment, the Kickstarter has over 34,000 backers and a whopping $2.7 MILLION pooled together, guaranteeing plenty of unlocked bonuses. There’s also still time to back the project, as the campaign still has over two weeks left. Many of the backer achievements have been accomplished, but some interesting ones are still waiting to be unleashed on the world. One such Backer Unlock is “Embarrassing Boots,” which will have IGA himself cosplaying – as what, we’re not sure, but we’d like to see it happen!
If you’d like to become a backer, you can find the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Kickstarter page here.
