Vanillaware ran out of money for Unicorn Overlord’s development (as they did for 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim)

Thick Thighs Save Lives

Thick Thighs Save Lives

NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Atlus and Vanillaware's tactical RPG Unicorn Overlord launches worldwide in just one day's time. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) counting down the last remaining day before the release, Vanillaware's CEO George Kamitani admits to having run out of development funds for the game "as usual" and having to cover for the maxed-out budget out of pocket.
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Unicorn Overlord is a fantasy tactical RPG with overworld exploration and real-time battles. The game's development has famously lasted over 10 years – as it was first conceived by Takafumi Noma in 2014. But, as the title's programmer Onishi has revealed, it is also Vanillaware's most ambitious title up to date in terms of content. Apart from its rich gameplay and story and impressive volume of hand-drawn assets, it has also been revealed that Unicorn Overlord will feature over 60 companion characters and over 60 classes of units that the player can freely combine in parties.
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However, it seems that Unicorn Overlord's ambitious scale also took a toll on Vanillaware's budget, as Kamitani jovially revealed on March 7 that the company had run out of development funds "this time too," and had to operate hand-to-mouth while covering expenses out of pocket. On the other hand, Kamitani assures us that their 10 years of hard work on Unicorn Overlord were not just for show, and will be apparent in the final product.
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Vanillaware ran out of money for Unicorn Overlord’s development (as they did for 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim) - AUTOMATON WEST

Vanillaware's CEO reveals that the company ran out of funds for Unicorn Overlord's development "this time too."
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Zathalus said:
Maybe release it on PC as well if your budget is that small? Just a thought.
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They're a small studio so I'm surprised that they managed in getting a simultaneous release across 3 different platforms (PS, Switch and Xbox) in the first place.
 
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You have to admire how much risk they willing to take for sake of their vision. They are type of devs who don't make sequels and always make new games with new gameplay style with gorgeous artstyle.

They will always have my full support.
 
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Thick Thighs Save Lives said:
They're a small studio so I'm surprised that they managed in getting a simultaneous release across 3 different platforms (PS, Switch and Xbox) in the first place.
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Sega ported it to Xbox and very probably helped them develop for both PS4/5 and Switch concurrently

13 Sentinels only got ported to Switch 2 years later because Vanillaware actually did that port themselves
 
I don't have much interest in this game from them.

But i loved 13 sentinels so much i might buy this just to support them lol.
 
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Zathalus said:
Publishing on Steam is far cheaper then doing any single console release. If a single developer with almost no money can do it then I'm sure they can as well.
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But they were already busy simultaneously releasing on 3 different platforms, I don't think they had resources for to do another one.

My bigger question is why the hell Atlus decided to release this game right beside big release like Rebirth?
jm89 said:
I don't have much interest in this game from them.
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have you tried the demo? It's REALLY good.
 
impressive volume of hand-drawn assets
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I feel their pain, hand drawing art is very time consuming (even more so if you hand animate using sprite sheets, but they arent doing it that way they are using bone/rigged which I dont particularly like (currently) but hey, thats their choice, and I may change my mind as I may try it myself just to save time)
 
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Danjin44 said:
have you tried the demo? It's REALLY good.
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Will give it a go after rebirth.

Been watching some demo clips and reading up on the story details we know so far. The story just hasn't clicked with me. But then again it's quite early to know from a demo how the story will end up being.

Maybe playing the demo my self can convince me there is more to it.
 
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Danjin44 said:
You have to admire how much risk they willing to take for sake of their vision. They are type of devs who don't make sequels and always make new games with new gameplay style with gorgeous artstyle.

They will always have my full support.
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Absolutely, been saying since 13 aegis that there the new treasure of this generation
 
jm89 said:
Will give it a go after rebirth.

Been watching some demo clips and reading up on the story details we know so far. The story just hasn't clicked with me. But then again it's quite early to know how the story will be.

Maybe playing the demo my self can convince me there is more to it.
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It's has almost 7 hours demo and this demo has more content than some full price AAA game out there.

This game is getting majority of positive reception because of the demo.
Shut0wen said:
Absolutely, been saying since 13 aegis that there the new treasure of this generation
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Vanillaware always been treasure in gaming industry since Princess Crown.
 
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Bt
Zathalus said:
Publishing on Steam is far cheaper then doing any single console release. If a single developer with almost no money can do it then I'm sure they can as well.
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But what about sales ?I'm sure sales on console would be higher
 
I still don't understand why they never ported their best masterpiece aka muramasa demon blade on PS4/PS5 and let it in the dust with Vita/Wii
 
Zathalus said:
Publishing on Steam is far cheaper then doing any single console release. If a single developer with almost no money can do it then I'm sure they can as well.
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So they should drop consoles in favor of pc? Why would it matter if its cheaper. They did run out of money.

Most pc devs with almost no money do early access and dont support consoles for years and years.
 
Vanillaware is the anti gaas.They risk profit and revenue to make their vision come to life while other companies make products to syphon money from consumers.
 
SSfox said:
I still don't understand why they never ported their best masterpiece aka muramasa demon blade on PS4/PS5 and let it in the dust with Vita/Wii
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Actually Kamitani himself said that he was interested porting Muramasa to other system but it's difficult because of licensing issues.
 
I've got Monarch Edition yesterday. I'm more than glad to support this team. The game previews look stunning for a srpg I can't wait to play :)
 
SmokedMeat said:
Point being it's cheaper to release on PC than consoles.

They could've easily done an early access as well, which I think some consoles don't allow.
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So they should drop their usual consumer base to make an unfinished product on a platform they have no experience with? Steam fanboys aint any better than console fanboys, Jesus Christ.
 
Ran out of money? You're really telling me that Atlus/Sega couldn't afford to keep Unicorn Overlord's ~20 people team working on the game until it was ready? Greedy fuckers, this project's R&D costs amounted to a rounding error in Sega's bottom line.
 
I might buy this at full price on Xbox to help them out. I liked the demo, although the mechanics were different to what I was expecting.
 
By the way, is there a shortage of physical Switch SKUs of Unicorn Overlord? My friend wanted to buy it as well and said that its not in stock anymore (Amazon UK)
 
Hudo said:
actually, their precarious budget situation might explain why there is no PC version.
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But they still decided to make a xbox port. I'm sure a PC version would sell more than a Xbox one at the very least, in their homeland especially. Vanillaware seem like one of those studios that make great games but get held back by poor business decisions and management, i'm honestly surprised they haven't gone under yet.
 
Guilty_AI said:
But they still decided to make a xbox port. I'm sure a PC version would sell more than a Xbox one at the very least, in their homeland especially. Vanillaware seem like one of those studios that make great games but get held back by poor business decisions and management, i'm honestly surprised they haven't gone under yet.
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I agree. I have no explanation for this other then them maybe betting on the wrong horse. Or someone at Atlus told them to include Xbox.
 
Guilty_AI said:
But they still decided to make a xbox port. I'm sure a PC version would sell more than a Xbox one at the very least,
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I agree with that, I feel like there might be more audience for Unicorn Overlord on PC rather than Xbox.

And this year Atlus release their games on such a weird timing….Persona 3 Reload close to GB Relink, Unicorn Overlord close to FFVII Rebirth and SMT5 V same day as Elden Ring expansion…..I don't know what Atlus is doing.
 
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Vanillaware are the heroes we need in these dark times of regurgitated live service shenanigans and greedy publishers.
 
Fabieter said:
So they should drop their usual consumer base to make an unfinished product on a platform they have no experience with? Steam fanboys aint any better than console fanboys, Jesus Christ.
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Dropping consoles is all out of your mouth.

Point being if they're that strapped for cash then early access on PC is the logical step - then port to consoles when it's finished.

Putting the money out to port it to Xbox is even dumber. Vanillaware may make good games, but they make poor decisions.
 
Danjin44 said:
I agree with that, I feel like there might be more audience for Unicorn Overlord on PC rather than Xbox.
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Yup, we even have companies like ProjectMoon making similar games with PC-first releases and seeing great success. I feel they're just stuck with old-jp-dev mentality.

They probably also think, or were ill-advised, that a PC release would require Denuvo or some other shit by Sega or Atlus (which costs a lot), even though their games are already fully pirateable on the platform anyway.
 
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Danjin44 said:
I agree with that, I feel like there might be more audience for Unicorn Overlord on PC rather than Xbox.

And this year Atlus release their games on such a weird timing….Persona 3 Reload close to GB Relink, Unicorn Overlord close to FFVII Rebirth and SMT5 V same day as Elden Ring expansion…..I don't know what Atlus is doing.
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Plus it launches tomorrow and there are like no reviews out for it?! It's also rumored Dragon's Dogma 2 is going to launch a demo tomorrow ...
 
Guilty_AI said:
Yup, we even have companies like ProjectMoon making similar games with PC-first releases and seeing great success. I feel they're just stuck with old-jp-dev mentality.

They probably also think, or were ill-advised, that a PC release would require Denuvo or some other shit by Sega or Atlus (which costs a lot), even though their games are already fully pirateable on the platform anyway.
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So some pc gamers expect that console players should wait on more games in the future. I swear some of you are the biggest hypocrits.
 
Little Mac said:
Plus it launches tomorrow and there are like no reviews out for it?! It's also rumored Dragon's Dogma 2 is going to launch a demo tomorrow ...
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Don't count on reviews. For some reason majority big gaming site didn't bother preview this game, not even EZA.
 
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This is not a great timing to release their new games, with so many games that just came out and more to come out soon.

A lot of people on YouTube are saying the gameplay is absolutely phenomenal, so if you like SRPGs (even remotely), it's worth checking out.

But they've been working on this for 10 years???
 
Danjin44 Danjin44

I also want to pick it up, but damn the release timeline is making me sick.

Still not finished wirh rebirth and I have Dragons dogma and ronin coming up. Should I just buy it and let it sealed until iam ready.
 
Fabieter said:
So some pc gamers expect that console players should wait on more games in the future. I swear some of you are the biggest hypocrits.
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Where the hell i even said that? I swear based on your previous posts you're just looking for excuses to argue over anything.
 
Fabieter said:
Danjin44 Danjin44

I also want to pick it up, but damn the release timeline is making me sick.

Still not finished wirh rebirth and I have Dragons dogma and ronin coming up. Should I just buy it and let it sealed until iam ready.
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I'm picking this game up day one no matter what! just like FROM, Vanillaware has earn my full trust.
 
Zathalus said:
Maybe release it on PC as well if your budget is that small? Just a thought.
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I can't get my head around the fact that they ported Unicorn Overlord to Xbox Series S/X but not PC. The Xbox sales are going to be laughably low compared to a PC release.
 
Fabieter said:
So they should drop consoles in favor of pc? Why would it matter if its cheaper. They did run out of money.

Most pc devs with almost no money do early access and dont support consoles for years and years.
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I didn't say drop consoles, that would make no sense. Just that the additional cost of releasing on Steam is trivial and you would probably make a nice bit of extra cash from releasing on it.
 
Is that why it turned into an auto-battler?
I tried the demo and legit WTF'd at my TV... skipped 212 cutscenes hoping it was just some kind of intro... nope.. combat is all automatic. It a fancy japanese animated autobattler
 
SmokedMeat said:
Dropping consoles is all out of your mouth.

Point being if they're that strapped for cash then early access on PC is the logical step - then port to consoles when it's finished.

Putting the money out to port it to Xbox is even dumber. Vanillaware may make good games, but they make poor decisions.
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It was exaggerated. But seeing as pc gamers like you beg for Day and date games while suggesting other games should delay their console ports show some true colours.
 
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