Impeller Studios’ crowdfunding goal of $150,000 was reached with around 40 hours to go, meaning the Starfighter Inc. project has the resources to complete in a timely manner. Stretch goals are now being hit, starting with new pilot and ship skins.
Update (4/14/17, 5:04PM): At one stage it looked like it could be another close call, but pledges accelerated over the last few days, hitting the $150,000 target comfortably with about 40 hours to go. Lead Designer David Wessman posted his appreciation, saying “We made it thanks to the amazing support of over 2700 backers! From everyone at Impeller Studios, know that we are extremely happy and very, very grateful! We can’t wait to deliver the game to you, and you can count on regular updates on our progress. Now, let’s see if we can’t hit a stretch goal or two!”
And with 21 hours remaining, the first stretch goals are indeed being hit, starting with alternate pilot and ship skins, followed by potential new weapons and ships. The major milestone of $200,000, which would introduce a new game mode and add several other features, is still some way off. The successful campaign means that the development team can complete the game faster – their aim is to deliver the game in April 2018.
Creative Director Jack Mamais also posted his thoughts in the Kickstarter comments section, saying “We are all super stoked here (design meetings happening all day) and can’t wait to show you all what’s coming next. We will continue to read and answer these comments…and we will have lots more information coming on our website as the campaign wraps up. We will keep this development very transparent for you guys, you all deserve it and we love to hear the great feedback and responses.”
Original Article (4/6/17): Starfighter Inc. has passed the halfway mark on its crowdfunding campaign, now with 9 days remaining. The game concentrates on multiplayer dogfighting based on a hard sci-fi foundation, promising to be the most realistic space combat simulator ever created.
Lead by industry veteran David Wessman, famous for his work on the classic X-Wing series, developer Impeller Studios has been working on this passion project since 2013. Seen as the spiritual successor to X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, the game is attempting to deliver fun tactical combat using a realistic physics system, simulating frictionless flight and component-based damage. Offering a comprehensive VR implementation (the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and OSVR are planned for support), this should pique the interest of many cockpit-based space sim fans.
This is the studio’s second shot at a successful Kickstarter campaign, having just missed their original goal in 2015. The funding tracker Kicktraq shows the rate of new pledges has steadied after the promising start, suggesting it might be a close call again. Impeller promise to continue their work even if the goal isn’t reached, but those who’d like to see Starfighter Inc. anytime soon may want to consider backing the project.
Perhaps this is why some are undecided—the $150,000 goal is an unusually low figure, not representative of the development costs of such an ambitious game. As noted on the campaign page, “Starfighter Inc. is where it’s at right now as the result of more than four years of hard work paid for out of our own pockets and a whole lot of sweat equity. We’re not trying to recoup that investment; we’re asking for your help to complete the basic game faster.”