Bloodstained More than 850% Funded, 34 Hours Left to Go
I don’t know if you know this about me but Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of my favorite games of all time. We’re talking I could assign a numerical “Top Ten” value to it. If you’ve lurked on this site for a while, you’ve heard me namedrop it a few times. It’s usually in a conversation featuring Metal Gear Solid, Shadow Hearts, and whichever Final Fantasy I’m feeling a proclivity toward in the current article’s context.
As you’ve no doubt heard Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – a project headed by Koji Igarashi, the same genius in part responsible for SOTN – has exceeded its goal by more than 800% (for a total of over $4.25 million in crowdfunding). That’s fucking insane. Record breaking even. Bloodstained is the most funded game Kickstarter and its ilk has ever seen. And there’s still 34 hours to go.
I’m still not entirely sold on Kickstarter. The beauty of it is I don’t have to be. Other people with disposable incomes to gamble on nostalgia can invest as much as they want and I remain unaffected. Unaffected of course until something I want to be made, is going to be made.
Kudos to you bandwagoners. I’m not apologizing for my curmudgeonly opinions or my inherent hatred of nostalgia based ad hoc marketing but I am expressing appreciation. That might be better. Sincerely, thank you everyone that invested in the project.
Of course, now it’s time for a crowdfunding rant:
This game is already a success and it hasn’t moved a single unit yet. Speculative success, and a lack of responsibility in managing that success, is exactly what toppled the world economy not too long ago. Forgive me for not trusting people – and I mean the general collective, not individuals or anyone specific, and certainly not my readers – to be responsible with power. And 4.25 million dollars to make a game that was speculated to cost 500,000 is a great deal of power. 800% percent power. What’s to stop Igarashi from spending only 1 million to make the game and pocketing the other 3.25 million? Well, I have faith in Igarashi but what’s to stop others? You get the point.
Bloodstained is an astonishing success already by the measure of others. I’m not into foregone conclusions and hype for unreleased games though. Until I actually play the thing, in 2017 the project assures me, I’m withholding my praise. I’m going to set my expectations low and be pleasantly surprised when the game itself surpasses them. Much the same as the funding campaign exceeded my expectations.
An actual screen shot from my phone of the email I received last night.
If it is half the game SOTN is, it’ll be a good game. The injustice here is that it’s probably already made more money and the damn thing isn’t out yet. But that’s beside the point, isn’t it?
Again thank you to all the people that funded my dream (and ya know, the developer’s dream) so I could maintain my cynicism while looking forward to the launch in an “old school” way. Receiving the email last night and seeing the “817% funded” at 10:01 in the PM, central time, was better than any teaser trailer E3 could throw at me.