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.