A Johannesburg-based software developer, Christopher Bischoff, has become the first South African to list a videogame on Kickstarter. The classic point-and-click adventure game, Stasis, went live on the crowd-funding website two days ago and, at the time of writing, had already received US$26 334 of its goal of raising $100 000.
Bischoff, lead developer of independent game developer The Brotherhood, says it’s a “surreal experience”.
“Stasis has been such a personal piece of art for me. I’ve given it my heart and soul. Letting the world see Stasis is a very scary but ultimately rewarding experience.”
Stasis is a 2D point-and-click adventure game for Windows PCs, set in the distant future. The story revolves around a character called John Maracheck, who has to interact and solve puzzles to save his family while uncovering horrific experimentation, illicit research and an ever-deepening mystery.
The game, which is in the “alpha” stage of development, already has a large support base in Russia, which was a big surprise, says Bischoff.
“I have also received many e-mails from French gamers requesting localisation.”
Bischoff says that until now, Stasis has been purely a project built on passion. “It is a result of work on weekends, nights and holidays only. I also own my own company, where often weekends are reduced to single days and workdays extend into work nights.”
Apart from raising funding, turning to Kickstarter gets the game noticed. It also motivates community-building around Stasis from people who have a vested interested in seeing it through to completion.
“I feel that Kickstarter is an incredible platform that can really push Stasis to that elusive ‘next level’ and, after working solo on Stasis for close to three years now, I felt that it was time to take it to the masses.”
Watch a Stasis preview on YouTube:
An early build of the game can be downloaded from its website.
“Stasis is an absolute passion for me, so working on it is a pleasure,” Bischoff says. “If the funding does come through, I will move into full-time production of the game.”
Stasis has already received pledges from 799 Kickstarter users and, if it raises the $100 000 Bischoff is looking for before 7 December, the money will be used to commission a musical score and to hire professional voice artists and copy editors.
Money will also go to additional layers of graphic detail and fidelity, further animation libraries and video cut scenes. — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
