Project Phoenix, $1m Kickstarter Game, Delayed Until 2018

Shipping dates stated on Kickstarter campaigns are more often than not rough estimates for when a product will launch; after all, projects don't always go as planned and sometimes delays arise. Every now and again a product will ship considerably later than estimates — take Mighty No. 9, for example. Less common, though, and far less acceptable are massive delays, including the one just announced for the game Project Phoenix.

Project Phoenix, for those unaware, is a Japanese role playing game that, despite being an indie title, is promised to feature "AAA talent." The game was massively successful on Kickstarter, raising $1,014,600 USD back in 2013; more than 15,800 Kickstarter users backed the project. The game's estimated delivery had been around the middle of this year.

Project Phoenix is the brainchild of Creative Intelligence Arts. This past summer, the developer revealed to backers that it was having trouble locating programmers to get the game under way...a surprising announcement given how much time had already passed since the campaign's conclusion. By September, the developer revealed that many aspects of the game, including things like level design, hadn't yet gone anywhere.

On December 9, the developer released yet another update, and while it has a sliver of good news in it, the bad news far eclipses any hope backers may have remaining. The game has been delayed until at least 2018. The developer has a programmer on board, but for reasons that aren't stated he can't start working full-time for a couple of months.

Once he does, the developer guesses it will take 2.5 years to complete the game, and another half a year after that to do testing. That means backers are looking at a mid-to-late 2018 launch if all goes as planned. Those who are done with the campaign don't have any easy way of backing out, though. Said the developer, "We are not considering refunds at this time."

SOURCE: Kickstarter