Wasteland 2
- Backers: 61,290
- Goal: $900,000
- Raised: $2.9 million
- Funded On: April 17, 2012
- Original Estimated Release:October 2013
- Current Estimated Release: TBD
Interplay's post-apocalyptic RPG Wasteland doesn't seem like the most logical choice for a sequel. Sure it was critically acclaimed and the spiritual predecessor to the Fallout series, but it came out in 1988, more than 25 years ago. But for Brian Fargo, co-founder of Interplay and the creator of Wasteland, a sequel always had been part of the plan. After forming inXile Entertainment with several fellow ex-Interplay employees, he pursued the more traditional publisher route to little avail. There just wasn't much interest in the sort of classic PC role playing game that he had in mind.
When Double Fine Adventure hit it big, Fargo saw an opportunity to return to a project that had long eluded him. The day after Schafer's Kickstarter went live, Fargo sent a company-wide email. "This is our chance," it read. "This is our chance for Wasteland."
"I stopped everything I was doing," Fargo later told WIRED, "and threw 100 percent of my energy into getting a website up right away so we could get fan feedback about not only what was important to them in the game, but what was important to them in the Kickstarter, in terms of stretch goals and backer rewards." A month later, Wasteland 2's Kickstarter went live, raising nearly $3 million, three times its $900,000 goal.
"When you bring in extra money," Fargo said, "you have two choices. One is to make the small game that you pitched and pocket the money, or two, you make a bigger game."
Now, $2.4 million -- what Fargo says inXile had to work with after Kickstarter fees and taxes -- might seem like a lot, but it depends on what you're doing. "If you're a small indie developer, you look at $2.4 million and say, 'What are they going to do with all that money,' while a larger guy will look at it and say, 'Our audio budget is twice that much, how are they going to do it?' In reality, that kind of money doesn't go a long way, so you have to be very clever in how you approach development."
What's the status now?
Wasteland 2's original Kickstarter pitch named this month as an estimated delivery date. "It's funny, because you have to put your date down on Kickstarter not knowing the scope of the game," Fargo said. "So we put a date down, but that was a very small project. Once we triple fund, and everybody says, 'Make the game much bigger,' does that date really apply anymore?"
When Fargo realized an October ship date wasn't going to happen, he decided instead to push for having a beta ready by then, opting to get at least something into backers' hands on time. The beta will deliver roughly 90 percent of the game's feature set, he says, albeit with some missing skills, sound effects, and animations here and there. But Wasteland is a narrative game, and inXile doesn't intend to give away the entire experience before release.
Players will be able to explore most, if not all, of post-apocalyptic Arizona, but a large portion of the game takes place in Los Angeles none of which will be accessible until the final release.
"It's such a transparent process," Fargo said. "I think that people aren't worried about you being late as long as you're showing updates, and you're communicating, and you're letting them touch and see things as long as it's moving along, everybody's happy."
