Unsung Story: Tales of the Guardians, the supposed spiritual successor to Final Fantasy Tactics, has been given up to another developer two years after its supposed launch.
The game drew massive interest in its Kickstarter campaign, but original developer Playdek has not been able to follow through on the promised potential of the concept.
Unsung Story: The Kickstarter Campaign
Final Fantasy Tactics, originally released for the PlayStation 1 in 1997, is one of the most loved RPGs of all time, and so when Unsung Story was marketed as the spiritual successor to the game in its Kickstarter campaign, many players instantly contributed.
Unsung Story was said to feature a story constructed by Yasumi Matsuno, the man behind Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. The game was able to clear its funding right before the campaign ended in January 2014, raising a total of $660,000 from nearly 16,000 backers by January 2014.
The RPG was originally expected to ship in 2015, but until now, Playdek has barely anything to show for the funding that it received from the game's Kickstarter campaign. The developer at times took long stretches of silence on updates for Unsung Story, and now the latest update is the final nail in the coffin for Playdek.
Playdek Gives Up 'Unsung Story' To Little Orbit
In the latest update on the Kickstarter page, Playdek announced that it has given up all the rights and assets of Unsung Story to Little Orbit, which will continue the work on bringing to life the story that Matsuno created for the game.
The transfer of development duties to Little Orbit drew backlash, as the developer has had no experience with major releases, with a small team that is likely not enough to deliver a worthy successor to Final Fantasy Tactics.
Little Orbit CEO Matthew Scott posted another update on the Unsung Story Kickstarter page, first stating the bad news that the developer will start from scratch for the tactical RPG despite Playdek having the project for years. Little Orbit will also not have access to the money that backers invested and will be using its own resources, so it is not in a position to give out refunds.
The developer, however, stated that once Unsung Story is finished and released, it will honor all the rewards that have been promised to Kickstarter backers at no additional cost.
It is unclear when, and if, Unsung Story will be released and what became of the $660,000 that the crowdfunding campaign raised. However, Playdek's decision to give up development of the game to Little Orbit could be taken as a good sign, as the tactical RPG needed a fresh start to find its way to the right track.
