Thousands of backers turned out on the very first day that Pillars of Eternity II surfaced at Fig for a crowdfunding campaign. Obsidian Entertainment, the game developer, had set a $1.1 million funding goal to develop the game's sequel Deadfire, and it was reached 23 hours after launch.
As of this writing, the campaign has already amassed $1.3 million from more than 12,000 supporters and the Obsidian team is already expressing its thanks and setting new stretch goals so that the game gets released within the announced Q1 2018 target.
Critically Acclaimed RPG
The original Pillars of Eternity is a highly acclaimed title that took a lot of inspiration from Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment. Critics, however, have largely hailed the game on account of its story line and impeccable writing.
The narrative takes place in the world of Eora and players need to complete quests and hunt gods, who have been relegated as mere synthetic beings crafted to civilize the world.
While the game does remind one of its influences, it features unique gameplay elements such as its complex experience system and its tweaks to the conventional class system and game mechanics.
All these contributed to the way Pillars gained an almost cultish following. One should note, however, that even at the early stage of the original game's development, it had already piqued the interest of enthusiasts. It was also crowdsourced at Kickstarter where it obliterated previous records there, raking in nearly $4 million in funding back in 2012.
Pillars of Eternity II
When Obsidian posted the new Pillars funding campaign, it explained that the sequel aims to offer an even better experience, particularly one that depicts a truly living world. The game appears to have its own advanced AI since characters carry on with their affairs whether or not they are within the player's orbit. Enemies are tougher as well.
"With Pillars II, we are revisiting the rich narrative, beautiful environments, and tactical combat that made Pillars of Eternity one of the highest-rated PC games of all time," Obsidian stated.
Based on released renders so far, it appears that Deadfire has significantly more detailed visuals. To underscore this, there is Obsidian's claim that the sequel will require a development team composed of 77,000 people.
The game studio also stressed that it needs money to expand the game's sub-classes in an apparent attempt to make gameplay as diverse as possible because of more complex and stratified character development paths over time. Players can expect to evolve their characters in new and unique ways.
