Torment: Tides of Numenera sets Kickstarter record

inXile Entertainment's Torment: Tides of Numenera has set a new Kickstarter record as the most-funded video game in the crowdfunding site's history, wrapping up over the weekend with a whopping $4,188,927 in pledges. It raked in at least $127,000 or so in direct pledges too. The RPG's crowdfunding campaign isn't over quite yet, as inXile will keep things running until the end of April to try to hit its $4.5 million stretch goal of a stronghold for players to call their very own.

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inXile Entertainment's Torment: Tides of Numenera has set a new Kickstarter record as the most-funded video game in the crowdfunding site's history, wrapping up over the weekend with a whopping $4,188,927 in pledges. It raked in at least $127,000 or so in direct pledges too. The RPG's crowdfunding campaign isn't over quite yet, as inXile will keep things running until the end of April to try to hit its $4.5 million stretch goal of a stronghold for players to call their very own.

The previous Kickstarter record holder was Obsidian's Project Eternity, with a touch under $4 million. This is only counting Kickstarter, mind. Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts ended up with millions of dollars more to make new space sim Star Citizen, having started with its own crowdfunding initiative.

"After a short break to recover from the intense past couple months, our Torment pre-production team will be moving ahead," project lead Kevin Saunders said in a Kickstarter update. "We'll be looking at the gross total of funds raised and determine how much we project for the development budget (i.e., taking into account the fees and costs of physical goods and fulfillment).

Saunders says inXile will also be "working more on the creative and design aspects of the game, in preparation to fully engage the writers later this year." It needs some time to nail down the "scope of the game" too. Given how many stretch goals it blew past, and how many new features it has already committed to adding, that may be pretty wide indeed.

Should Paypal pledges push the campaign to $4.5 million by April 30, inXile can add another feature to that list. "The stronghold will be a playable area, a personal hub and base of operations, and it may come with its own quests or difficulties," Saunders recently explained.

Exactly how far short of that goal inXile is should be settled today.

We may never see a sequel to Planescape: Torment, but thanks to the Kickstarter we'll be getting a spiritual successor made by some key folks behind the original game. It'll take time, though. The feature creep of stretch goals caused inXile to delay the game past its planned December 2014 launch, before the Kickstarter had even ended.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 8, 2013 6:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Torment: Tides of Numenera sets Kickstarter record.

    inXile Entertainment's Torment: Tides of Numenera has set a new Kickstarter record as the most-funded video game in the crowdfunding site's history, wrapping up over the weekend with a whopping $4,188,927 in pledges. It raked in at least $127,000 or so in direct pledges too. The RPG's crowdfunding campaign isn't over quite yet, as inXile will keep things running until the end of April to try to hit its $4.5 million stretch goal of a stronghold for players to call their very own.

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      April 8, 2013 6:40 AM

      what does this mean " It raked in at least $127,000 or so in direct pledges too." - is that pledges outside of Kickstarter like paypal?

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      April 8, 2013 7:13 AM

      Star Citizen is actually sitting at 8.5 million.
      http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/

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        April 8, 2013 7:22 AM

        But most of that came from outside of Kickstarter, so the argument still stands.

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        April 8, 2013 7:23 AM

        goddammit i may finally cave and just back this stupid fucking thing.

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        April 8, 2013 7:27 AM

        Blarf. Thanks. What a confusing array of numbers. But sure.

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        April 8, 2013 7:30 AM

        Dude that's bonkers

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        April 8, 2013 7:54 AM

        but i thought the space sim genre was dead?

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          April 8, 2013 1:21 PM

          Apparently not... and frankly I'm too excited to stand it!

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          April 8, 2013 4:35 PM

          That is only what the publishers want you to think. They said the same thing about point and click adventure games and a few point and clicks were kickstarted and medium sized company like Telltale is getting acclaim making them with Games like reboots of Sam and Max and The Walking Dead. They also said that CRPG were history as well and look how many people came out of the woodwork to support the genre.

          Ultimately it just shows that the publishers have a lack of imagination or ability for limited risks which is why the genres have disappeared for so long.

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        April 8, 2013 8:00 AM

        And i don't care where it got funded. As long as its not EA! I hope crowd funding takes a big bite outta these publishers bottom line.

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          April 8, 2013 9:33 AM

          Well, for all we know the Star Citizen investors are from EA.

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      April 8, 2013 8:11 AM

      I think it's HUGE that this got so popular for the sole reason that a game came out some 15 years ago and it was FRICKING GOOD. Faith in gamers restored.

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        April 8, 2013 1:23 PM

        I agree, although honestly Torment could never hold a candle to BG II (and ToB thrown in to boot).. then again.. no game has or can. I only hope I live long enough to see another game that comes even close, and hopefully Tormet: ToN will be that for us.

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          April 8, 2013 2:01 PM

          PST and BG had very different focuses so I don't think your comparison is sensible. I easily accept that you prefer BG to PST, but not that BG was better than PST. Furthermore, if the new Torment holds to what made PST great then your want of a successor to BG will definitely not be satisfied. PST was all about story, Icewind Dale was all about combat, and BG split the difference. All three properties were wonderful in their own way and right.

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      April 8, 2013 9:08 AM

      Does the numa numa video of the kid singing float through anyone else's head every time you read the title?

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        April 8, 2013 9:11 AM

        No, but it does now. THANKS MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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        April 8, 2013 9:26 AM

        I found out that's a Romanian song/band

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          April 8, 2013 1:42 PM

          My wife introduced them to me before everyone else knew who they were and when it exploded I knew what it was to be a hipster for a second.

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      April 8, 2013 11:42 PM

      i bought it

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