John Smedley, the former head of Sony Online Entertainment and Daybreak Studios, has announced the formation of Pixelmage Games and the launch of a Kickstarter fundraising campaign for a new RPG called Hero's Song.
Pixelmage, based in San Diego, hopes to raise $800,000 over the next month with over $18,000 already pledged after the first few hours. Described as a "hardcore action RPG for hardcore gamers," Hero's Song offers "open world rogue-like fantasy" with auther Patrick Rothfuss helping to create the game's story and universe.
Players will have the option to play online with friends and host games for hundreds of gamers at the same time.
While Smedley has only announced the game today, it's clearly well into development with the Kickstarter page offering plenty of information about its mechancies and lore.
"Pixelmage Games has been in stealth mode since October [2015] while developing the core elements and prototype for Hero's Song," the company stated in a press release.
"It has already raised $1m in funding from private investors and will use Kickstarter to raise another $800k to finish development. Pixelmage intends to deliver the game in October 2016, just nine months from now. The team has a track record of AAA quality games that reach massive audiences."
Hero's Song is due for release in October 2016 after two betas which are planned for the summer.
