If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Project Eternity: "It doesn't matter if it's a flop", says Avellone

Obsidian Entertainment's Project Eternity doesn't have to sell well, because its backers have already paid for it.

Speaking to Gamasutra, designer and writer Chris Avellone said Kickstarter has made the project risk free.

"It doesn't matter if it's a flop, although I don't believe that it will be. The nice thing about Kickstarter is that people have already paid for the title," he said.

"So anything else that happens after that is great, but we know what our budget is, and practically speaking, that's all we're really focused on: 'We're going to make a game for this amount of money.'"

Avellone said if the classic-style RPG does sell well enough to fund future games, then Obsidian will make them - but if it doesn't, and there's demand for a sequel, Obsidian will "probably take it back to Kickstarter".

Project Eternity raised $3.9 million through its Kickstarter campaign, and Avellone said Obsidian knows through experience just how to spend that money, which is how it set stretch goals.

"One advantage we had was that we knew, back from Black Isle, how many people it takes to make discrete content. Things like, 'How much does a companion cost to make? How long does it take to build a level? How many artists are needed? How many designers are needed?'" he said.

"We know all the logistics for that stuff, so that's why it might have seemed so precise - it's just because we have all the information to draw from, so that made things much easier."

Project Eternity is expected on PC in April 2014.

Sign in and unlock a world of features

Get access to commenting, homepage personalisation, newsletters, and more!

Related topics
About the Author
Brenna Hillier avatar

Brenna Hillier

Contributor

Based in Australia and having come from a lengthy career in the Aussie games media, Brenna worked as VG247's remote Deputy Editor for several years, covering news and events from the other side of the planet to the rest of the team. After leaving VG247, Brenna retired from games media and crossed over to development, working as a writer on several video games.

Comments