Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Project Awakened's independent crowdfunding campaign in full swing]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/01/project-awakeneds-independent-crowdfunding-campaign-in-full-swi/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/01/project-awakeneds-independent-crowdfunding-campaign-in-full-swi/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/01/project-awakeneds-independent-crowdfunding-campaign-in-full-swi/#comments Project Awakened's independent crowdfunding campaign in full swingProject Awakened came up short on Kickstarter in March, raising $338,498 of a requested $500,000, but the team at Phosphor Games wasn't ready to give up on the game just yet. After a week-long survey that attracted 4,000 responses, Phosphor decided there was enough interest to launch an independent fundraising campaign, with a few new tweaks.

Phosphor is using PayPal, one option that Kickstarter doesn't offer its projects, and its first goal is $250,000: the launch of multiplayer, mod-able Project Awakened: Danger Room in November. If Awakened doesn't hit that mark by May 5, all backers will receive a full refund.

Donations range from $5 to $10,000, each with unique perks. In Kickstarter-inspired fashion, the Awakened campaign has stretch goals, including for the initial requested amount of $500,000, which sees Phosphor commit to a launch date of June 2014 for the expanded Project Awakened: Subject, rather than the standard window of "around" the end of 2014.

So far Project Awakened has raised $44,696 from 764 backers, with 32 days to hit the first $250,000 goal. Check out the fundraising campaign on Phosphor's official site.

JoystiqProject Awakened's independent crowdfunding campaign in full swing originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>crowd-fundingcrowdfundingkickstarterpcphosphorphosphor-gamesproject-awakenedMon, 01 Apr 2013 23:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Project Awakened falls short of $500K Kickstarter goal]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/06/project-awakened-falls-short-of-500k-kickstarter-goal/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/06/project-awakened-falls-short-of-500k-kickstarter-goal/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/06/project-awakened-falls-short-of-500k-kickstarter-goal/#comments Project Awakened Kickstarter ends below target goalProject Awakened, the attempt to reinvigorate Phosphor Games' beleaguered superhero action game, fell short of its Kickstarter goal today, raising $338,498 of a requested $500,000. On Monday, with less than two days to raise more than $200,000, Phosphor Director Chip Sineni told us that if Awakened missed its Kickstarter goal, his team would continue to develop the game in its own time.

"If nothing else comes up for funding elsewhere - we will keep looking," Sineni said. "We would not be able to promise a 2014 beta, and it would likely take a long time to complete."

At the one-day countdown, Phosphor put together a Heineken ad Hello Kitty piano recital video featuring the team drunkenly singing Tom Waits' "Innocent When You Dream." If that can't make a Kickstarter succeed, we just don't know what will.

JoystiqProject Awakened falls short of $500K Kickstarter goal originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>kickstarterpcphosphorphosphor-gamesproject-awakenedWed, 06 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[On the brink: What's next if Project Awakened can't save the world]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/04/on-the-brink-whats-next-if-project-awakened-cant-save-the-wor/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/04/on-the-brink-whats-next-if-project-awakened-cant-save-the-wor/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/04/on-the-brink-whats-next-if-project-awakened-cant-save-the-wor/#comments On the brink What's next if Project Awakened can't save the worldPhosphor Games has less than 48 hours to raise more than $200,000 for Project Awakened on Kickstarter. If Phosphor doesn't hit that goal, the $270,000 people have already pledged will vanish, and Awakened's current development timeline will be stretched indefinitely.

Still, Phosphor Director Chip Sineni is optimistic about Awakened's success.

"We are feeling stressed, but we still feel there is time for the community to help us make this happen," Sineni tells Joystiq. "We got the Unreal Engine 4 tech demo out, we announced Austin Wintory joining as the composer and a lot of Kickstarters have last-minute surges."

A lot of Kickstarters fall short, too: Last year, 2,796 video game projects asked for funding, and 1,885 failed. Of course this means 911 gaming projects succeeded, and those projects earned $83 million overall. Sineni wants to see Awakened in that second group, but the entire process has been a fast-paced learning experience on the whims of crowd-sourced funding. Only (a short amount of) time will tell if Phosphor absorbed its lessons too late.

Continue reading On the brink: What's next if Project Awakened can't save the world

JoystiqOn the brink: What's next if Project Awakened can't save the world originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chip-sinenicrowdfundingIndiekickstarterpcphosphorphosphor-gamesproject-awakenedMon, 04 Mar 2013 17:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Project Awakened brings super powers to Steam Greenlight]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/14/project-awakened-brings-super-powers-to-steam-greenlight/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/14/project-awakened-brings-super-powers-to-steam-greenlight/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/14/project-awakened-brings-super-powers-to-steam-greenlight/#comments Project Awakened hits Steam GreenlightProject Awakened, the super-powered action game that Phosphor Games resurrected on Kickstarter, now has a Steam Greenlight page, hoping to eventually sneak onto that service. As Phosphor told us earlier this month, Awakened is a PC, next-gen game heavy on customization and kicking dystopic booty with a myriad of interchangeable powers.

Get a glimpse of some early super-human combinations in the demo video below, and if you're intrigued, check out Awakened on Kickstarter and Greenlight.

Continue reading Project Awakened brings super powers to Steam Greenlight

JoystiqProject Awakened brings super powers to Steam Greenlight originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 14 Feb 2013 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>greenlightkickstarterpcphosphorphosphor-gamesproject-awakenedsteam-greenlightThu, 14 Feb 2013 23:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Awakened returns with a new design strategy and funding goal: You]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/04/awakened-returns-with-a-new-design-strategy-and-funding-goal-yo/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/04/awakened-returns-with-a-new-design-strategy-and-funding-goal-yo/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/04/awakened-returns-with-a-new-design-strategy-and-funding-goal-yo/#comments Awakened returns with a new design strategy and funding goal YouIn November 2010, Phosphor Games was quietly shopping around a project called Awakened, a super-hero action title heavy on character customization and creative chaos. As part of its publisher pitch, Phosphor made a demo video for Awakened; it was rough and never meant for public consumption. It showed a city on the brink of man-made annihilation, tanks patrolling streets littered with blood, bodies and fire, and a cast of seemingly ordinary people with supernatural abilities: invisibility, force push, mind control, electric shock, on-demand armor, stealth, accuracy, a tornado.

In January 2011, the video leaked.

"We didn't actually intend it to go out," Phosphor Games director Chip Sineni looks back on the day the video broke on YouTube. "We were kind of embarrassed because it was very rough and there was a lot of stuff that just wasn't ready to show to the public. We were really surprised by how many people were supportive of it."

The video, rough as Sineni thought it was, resonated with the gaming audience in a big way. Publishers loved it, too - just not enough to pick up the project. Awakened fell to the back of Phosphor's priorities and out of the gaming industry's eye as the company focused on developing smaller, lucrative games, such as Horn and Dark Meadow for iOS. However, in the few years since Awakened burst into public consciousness, video game funding has evolved, and Phosphor may not need publisher approval to get the game off the ground. All it needs now is something it believes it has already proven - community interest - and somewhere to channel that support.

Awakened has turned to Kickstarter.

Continue reading Awakened returns with a new design strategy and funding goal: You

JoystiqAwakened returns with a new design strategy and funding goal: You originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>awakenedherokickstarterMidwaypcphosphorphosphor-gamesproject-awakenedMon, 04 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST