One of the earliest Kickstarter success stories in gaming is returning to the site to finish its story.
The Stoic game-development studio announced today that it has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for The Banner Saga 3, the final game in the turn-based strategy trilogy. It is seeking $200,000 by March 7.
The original Banner Saga earned $723,886 on Kickstarter 2012 and came out in 2014 in for PC and mobile (with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions following in 2016), while Banner Saga 2 skipped crowdfunding and released in 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and mobile. The games stand out with their hand-drawn art set in a Viking-inspired world. They have a heavy focus on story, with player choices impacting the narrative. The series takes place in a land covered in a neverending darkness, with you trying to protect a group of friends as the world around you crumbles.
So, why is Stoic returning to Kickstarter to help make the third game?
“We’re going full circle and returning to Kickstarter where it all began. In 2012, the backers were instrumental in bringing the saga to life, smashing our initial funding target that led us to increase the scope, fidelity and production values of Banner Saga”, said John Watson, the cofounder and technical director at Stoic. “We’re proud to be indie, and despite the stellar support we get from our publisher, Versus Evil, we’re not taking any outside funding to bring this series home, we’d love Kickstarter support to add additional features that are simply beyond our current budget.”
Right now, The Banner Saga 3’s Kickstarter page does not detail what stretch goals additional funding could support, with that section of the page hosting a picture that says “coming soon.”
Updated 1/25 at 10:11 p.m. Pacific: This story originally noted that December 2018 is the game’s projected release date, but that is actually when Stoic expects to ship backer rewards.