It’s looking like Ashes of Creation is the next big game to roll through crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The ambitious, large-scale Massively Multiplayer Online RPG reached its first $300,000 in less than an hour of creation. In less than 12 hours the campaign has raised over $800,000, already past the initial goal of $750,000. Bring on the stretch goals!
Ashes of Creation is billed as a rebirth to the MMORPG genre. “We’ve all wanted a world that lives and breathes and reacts,” states the Kickstarter page. “Where our decisions matter, where the world changes because of what we’ve done. Ashes of Creation is that game.”
The world promises evolving cities based on player choices based on a “Node” system. AS players complete quests and goals, their actions affect these nodes, changing the landscape and story around them.
Ashes of Creation has been in development for about one year by independent game company Intrepid Studios. The collective team has decades of MMORPG experience, from Everquest to Star Wars Galaxies. The studio sought out crowdfunding “to expand our scope and give our team flexibility and room to breathe. Crowdfunding also allows us to connect directly with the players most invested in our success.”
Most modern MMORPGs have dropped the subscription model in favor of either purchasing once and releasing expansions, or using lots of micro-transactions. According to the FAQ, Ashes of Creation will return to the old monthly subscription model, with no upfront box cost. Micro-transactions will be included but only for cosmetic items.
The minimum backer reward is $25 and nets one month of game time, which seems like a pretty darn expensive subscription. The estimated delivery date for the final release is December 2018, while alpha and beta stages are “months away.”
