Shenmue 3 Backers Won't Get Pre-Order Content

Kickstarter backers will not receive Shenmue III pre-order content for free upon launch but sure can pay for it.

If debacles created around upcoming anticipated action-adventure game Shenmue III was not enough by now, we have more disappointing news at hand for backers who funded creator Yu Suzuki on Kickstarter to make this project successful.

Going Epic Games Store-exclusive was bad enough for many fans on PC but in a latest crowdfunding update, developer Ys Net also states that backer are not receiving pre-order content included in Deluxe Edition, unless they pay for it.

Shenmue 3 Backers Won't Get Pre-Order Content

RELATED: Shenmue 3 Delayed to November 2019

Apart from going timed exclusive at Epic Store, it was announced at E3 2019 that developers are now working on post-launch content and they are likely to be added as pre-order bonuses or be included in Deluxe Edition and Season Pass.

Even though people who funds projects on Kickstarter receive some extra incentive limited for them as an appreciation for their support, Ys Net decided to completely deny them of any extra content and that includes higher tier backers as well.

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When someone at ResetEra forum asked for a response from YS Net about Season Pass, they had the following to say.

Dear Antonio,
We apologize for the long delay in responding. Your feedback is appreciated and we will look into having your noted points in future updates.
Standard and deluxe versions released through retail sales are not affiliated with the crowdfunding campaign, so will not be included with backer pledges, however, they will be available for sale separately. Kickstarter Backers will receive the Kickstarter version, Slacker Backers will receive the Slacker Backer version. Both have unique content respective to their versions not available in the retail versions.
A season pass is not included.
Trial version release date info has yet to be confirmed and will be announced in the updates when details are available. You will be receiving your trial version, but we must ask for your patience for a little longer.
There will be more information following in the days ahead concerning updates.
Sincerely,
The Shenmue III Team

RELATED: Shenmue 3 Epic Store Exclusivity Creates Kickstarter Controversy

According to their statement, backers are still getting some exclusive content respectively unique to Kickstarter and Slacker Backer version. Nevertheless, if you are so willing to enjoy post-launch content for Shenmue III, pay for it.

Though it was probably a decision made by publisher Deep Silver but Yu Suzuki has clearly forgotten how for all those backers who showed up pledging their support to his KS project at first hour has gotten major companies getting involved.

RELATED: Shenmue 3 Backers Getting Refund from Epic Store

A considerable faction of backers who gave their money to Suzuki and his company Ys Net for a copy of the game on Steam upon release now either has to wait a year if they are unwilling to install Epic Games launcher on their PC.

Although they were originally denied any refunds by Ys Net for this change, which created a major backlash and possibly had some lawsuits incoming but CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney came offering a full refund for damage control.

RELATED: Shenmue 3 Won't Cover Ryo's Complete Story

Suzuki revealed in a recent interview during PC Gaming Show 2019 that the game won't even be covering Ryo's complete story but only 40% of it, which means he already has plans for one or two more upcoming sequels in mind.

Given how his backers are scammed out of what they are promised in early phase of Shenmue III, his reputation is literally tarnished and he surely will face trouble gathering funds for next Shenmue game without Epic Games or Sony backing him.

Shenmue 3 Backers Getting Refund from Epic Store

Backers of Shenmue III are now getting refund for Steam version by none other than, Epic Games Store.

Long after going through Kickstarter to crowdfund then stuck in development for years than promised, long-awaited action-adventure game Shenmue III is finally set to arrive on November 19, 2019 for PC and PlayStation 4 platforms.

A new gameplay trailer at PC Gaming Show 2019 revealed PC version of the game is now an Epic Games Store-exclusive and backers are denied a refund for this change, causing backlash but Epic Games has come to their rescue now.

Shenmue 3 Backers Getting Refund from Epic Store

RELATED: Shenmue 3 Epic Store Exclusivity Creates Kickstarter Controversy

If moving over to Epic Store for PC version was not frustrating enough for majority of backers, developer Ys Net and publisher Deep Silver managed to infuriate them by not allowing a refund though their initial response on their official Kickstarter page.

Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki came under heavy backlash as well for promising to provide Steam keys and then switching to EGS, effectively forcing everyone to play it on a storefront that many are not comfortable with for various shady reasons.

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In a latest Kickstarter update, developers try to justify their action of shifting outlet by pointing that they couldn't provide Steam keys because of sales policies by Valve, which requires a game to be on their storefront for sale to generate keys.

Physical version will come in a disc with EGS code or they can wait for a year to receive a Steam key after exclusivity period ends. People can also choose to pick a PS4 version if they don't want to redeem digital code for Epic Games Store or just get a refund.

RELATED: Shenmue 3 Won't Cover Ryo's Complete Story

However, higher tier backers are not getting full refund but only partial because many of stretch goal for Shenmue III are already implemented in the game and developers currently working on some post-launch content too.

When people funds video game projects on crowdfunding platforms, they place a huge trust on developers that they don't have for AAA-companies and Ys Net has completely broke that trust with their recent bait and switch act on consumers.

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CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney clarified their position on offering full refund to upset backers on behalf of Ys Net.

When future games go Epic-exclusive after offering crowdfunding rewards on other PC stores, we’ll either coordinate with colleagues at the other stores to ensure key availability in advance, or guarantee refunds at announcement time.

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) July 2, 2019

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Now, Sweeney can expect to get some praise from people for handling a grieving situation but not everyone is ready to forget the fact here that whatever major backlash sparked was because of Epic Store trying to snag out another exclusive.

His follow-up Tweet says when they go after crowdfunded games that are successful in future, they would at least ensure that there are keys from other PC stores available to offer or a guaranteed refund and it is nothing but a subtle hint that they will.

RELATED: Shenmue 3 Delayed to November 2019

We are not sure what Shenmue developer Yu Suzuki was thinking about going EGS-exclusive and not even worrying about fans who supported him whereas parent company Sega didn't want to make a sequel because it made no significant business.

Shenmue III has proven to all that Kickstarter can literally do nothing in getting people their money back in situation like this and Tim Sweeney just clearly hinted that parties will advertise their games on Steam only for Epic to snag it later.

Shenmue 3 Won't Cover Ryo's Complete Story

Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki says, Shenmue III will only get us through 40% of Ryo's complete story.

After a series of delays after delays in past four years of development, anticipated upcoming action-adventure game Shenmue III is finally scheduled to see worldwide release on November 19, 2019 for PC and PlayStation 4 platforms.

However, players are not going to see complete story of young martial art prodigy Ryo Hazuki even when it finally gets there. According to series creator Yu Suzuki, we will not even be reaching halfway though his entire saga.

Shenmue 3 Won't Cover Ryo's Complete Story

RELATED: Shenmue 3 Epic Store Exclusivity Creates Kickstarter Controversy

In a recent interview after PC Gaming Show 2019, Suzuki stated by putting a water bottle on table pointing to middle of its length and said "40 percent" via translator, when he was asked whether third installation is a conclusion.

Though they had some bumps to work out along the road, his development company Ys Net has finally come a long way to deliver a full scale Shenmue experience after all with assistance from both Sony and publisher Deep Silver.

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After an initial announcement for the game back in E3 2015, he has successfully raised more than $7,000,000 from Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign and received additional support from Sony afterwards, which led to some controversy of course.

Even when he amassed triple of his original goal of raising $2 million dollars, Suzuki was still skeptical because it took a whooping $47 million to make original Shenmue back in 1999 and he would require $10 million to make it an open world game.

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Apparently, Ys Net is already working on some post-launch content that would involve both action-based and quest-based elements. Nevertheless, he never clarified if that would add up more to Ryo's story or seeking revenge or not.

Since Ryo will not be done with quest for vengeance after Shenmue III, former Sega developer and Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki would probably want to do one or two more sequels of this critically acclaimed series in near future.

Shenmue 3 Epic Store Exclusivity Creates Kickstarter Controversy

After Shenmue III has been announced as Epic Games Store exclusive for PC, backers are now even denied refunds on Kickstarter.

At E3 2019 event, renowned Sega developer and Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki took stage during PC Gaming Show 2019 to showoff brand-new gameplay trailer for Shenmue III and reveal that PC version will be an Epic Games Store-exclusive.

Now whether or not they decided to make it a timed exclusive is not clear yet but many backers are very upset over this decision of shifting platform since it was originally planned for a Steam release and are already asking for a refund.

Shenmue 3 Epic Store Exclusivity Creates Kickstarter Controversy

RELATED: Shenmue 3 Delayed to November 2019

Right after their announcement at E3, development team has updated their Kickstarter page with new information to declare Epic Store exclusivity. What they explained as reason for their recent decision of changing outlet is given below.

We are happy to announce that Shenmue III for PC will be an Epic Games Store exclusive. Development for Shenmue III has been moving forward using Unreal Engine and the support we have received from Epic has been excellent. But most importantly, in looking for the most enjoyable experience on PC, it was decided together with Deep Silver after much discussion that the Epic Games Store would be the best distribution platform option.

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Apparently, it was publisher Deep Silver that pushed for Shenmue III exclusivity and their official statement of most enjoyable experience on PC being on EGS clearly shows how detached they are from players these days.

When they removed Metro Exodus from Steam earlier before launch to make it a timed exclusive at Epic Store, fans were enraged. They started review-bombing to plummet its overall score, which then took Steam to intervene and stop them.

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Official Kickstarter page of Ys Net is flooded with angry response from fans seeking either an explanation or their money back. Some pointed out that it was mentioned in early phase of campaign that they are to provide Steam keys for PC platform.

Even those who would purchase a physical copy would only have a box with a code in it that still need to be activated via Epic Store. Charging a $59.99 amount for a box that doesn't even come with a disc seems like a scheme to get some extra money.

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After Yu Suzuki launched the Kickstarter project looking for $2 million in funding back in 2015, it has been backed by nearly 70,000 people and raised over $6 million in a month, only so they can screw over players on PC four years later.

When you thought Epic Store exclusivity was the worst thing to happen to the game, Ys Net has denied granting any refunds for making this change, therefore leaving PC players with no option to either get their hard-earned money or preferred platform.

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Epic Games are definitely favoring developers by taking only 12% cut from sales rather than 30% and started a trend for exclusive games to incite competition but that is also leading studios into taking such controversial decisions.

A few months ago, Epic Games Store has bagged crowdfunded project Phoenix Point out of nowhere that was originally promised to launch on Steam but in that case, developers were generous enough to offer a refund to its backers at least.

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Denying request for refund was perhaps the most anti-consumer act from their part and maybe even led to some legal action, because ripping off people for their money with false pledges like this need some serious consequence enforced by law.

What happened as a result will now have people to be more suspicious before crowdfunding any project on Kickstarter. There is currently a Steam page for the game though but that is probably because they forgot to remove it.

RELATED: Shenmue and Shenmue 2 Re-Release Date

Epic may have given a hefty amount to Deep Silver and Ys Net for a store exclusivity deal like they did with Snapshot Games for having Phoenix Point. However, they should have considered how it would ruin reputation for both companies.

After years of development and a couple of delays, Shenmue III is finally all set to arrive on November 19 for PC and PlayStation 4. Only if they have kept promise of delivering Steam keys to backers, there would probably be a little less backlash.

Shenmue 3 Delayed to November 2019

Pushed over from August 2019, Shenmue III has been delayed once again for a November launch date.

Teenage martial art prodigy Ryo Hazuki was about to make his anticipated return in upcoming action-adventure game Shenmue III that was scheduled to release on August 27 this year but his arrival has been delayed now to November 19.

Though it is almost finished, creator Yu Suzuki and publisher Deep Silver have agreed to the point that the game needs some more polishing for truly being finished and revealed in public via its Kickstarter announcement.

Shenmue 3 Delayed to November 2019

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Announced back at E3 2015, a third installment of classic series Shenmue entered into crowdfunding with an original goal of $2 million, which became fastest campaign for that amount by reaching their goal within just seven hours.

Aside from large sum of money collected from general mass, investors like Sony has also contributed with unknown amounts and that really raised eyebrows of many regarding budget transparency and how much it really takes to make a AAA-game.

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So far, this project has amassed a total of $7,179,510 in three years and became sixth-highest-funded Kickstarter campaign. Originally, the game was set to arrive on December 2017 before it was delayed to early 2018 and then on August 27, 2019.

Sega offered license of this cult favorite series to Suzuki's company Ys Net to develop Shenmue III independently and they jumped on board with development that will eventually see release over PC and PlayStation 4 on November 2019.

Bloodborne Board Game Fully Funded

Tabletop board game based on PS4-exclusive action RPG game Bloodborne gets fully funded in Kickstarter.

Inspired by action role-playing PlayStation 4-exclusive game Bloodborne from developer From Software, a miniature tabletop board game was announced earlier to come to popular crowdfunding platform Kickstarter on April 23.

Surprisingly, no sooner had it opened its gate for taking pledges from backers, Bloodborne: The Board Game project reached campaign goal of $200,000 in about exact 17 minutes with 21 more days to go and is expected to ship worldwide by May 2020.

Bloodborne Board Game Fully Funded

RELATED: Hollow Knight: Silksong Revealed

Renowned board game publisher CMON has tasked game designer Eric M. Lang and Michael Shinall to devise a tabletop adventure that would recreate a miniature version of Yharnam with dark atmosphere similar to the game.

Players would assume role of Hunters to explore the gothic city affected by a plague of blood-borne disease to slay terrifying beasts and monstrous boss characters in an hour-long game played by card-driven combat system.

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A regular package of Bloodborne tabletop includes Hunter Axe Hunter, Ludwig's Holy Blade Hunter, Saw Cleaver Hunter and Threaded Cane Hunter. There are 5 deadly bosses and 28 different enemy mobs for them to encounter.

Following is an official trailer of the named board game that takes you back to Yharnam with brief idea of what it's all about.

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Early backers are going to receive a copy of this tabletop game worth $90 that comes with a Dashboard and an exclusive Kirkhammer Hunter. Then the price goes up to $100 after first 24 hours but it rewards you with exclusive figure.

Although fully funded on Kickstarter already, Bloodborne: The Board Game campaign will continue taking pledges until May 15 and if you are a fan of the original 2015 action RPG title then you can simply back it for those amazing figurines.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Revealed

Following the success of Hollow Knight, indie studio Team Cherry has recently revealed a sequel titled Silksong.

Originally started its journey as a Kickstarter campaign in 2014 for classic 2D adventure, Hollow Knight has turned out to be a universally acclaimed Metroidvania video game from Australian developer/publisher studio Team Cherry.

Following release, the title received several major content update for free and while they were working on another of their post-launch expansions, it eventually outgrew from its original scope and turned out to be a potential sequel titled Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Revealed

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Team Cherry has officially revealed Silksong via a brand-new trailer that offer a brief glimpse into what players are getting into.

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Previously appearing on HK as a lethal hunter and a self-proclaimed protector of Hallownest, Hornet came into way of the titular insectoid Knight more than once and now has finally become a playable character on her own game.

She was always intended to go on her solo adventure set in a new world but they realized too late that it has outsized to be just a downloadable content anymore and the decided to make it a sequel with bosses, enemies and quests for fans.

Adventure of Hornet

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To learn more about what is going on behind the scene, be sure to watch the developer diary by lead designers Ari Gibson and William Pellen below.

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Even though no official date of release is set yet, developers are currently planning to bring the sequel for Linux, Mac, PC and Nintendo Switch platforms with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are to follow later at some point.

Also, Kickstarter backers of original Hollow Knight will receive Hollow Knight: Silksong for free upon release and those who have pledged them with more than AU $10 can even select Switch their preferred platform instead of PC.

Assassin’s Creed Board Game Comes to Kickstarter

A brand-new Assassin’s Creed board game is announced to head for a Kickstarter campaign in November.

After making more than ten games, producing comic-books and a big-budget live-action film, Assassin’s Creed action-adventure video game series from developer/publisher Ubisoft can surely be considered as a high-profile franchise.

The most recent installment of the series, Assassin's Creed Odyssey is about to release within a month on October 5 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Meanwhile, news of a brand-new Assassin’s Creed board game is about to launch a Kickstarter campaign in November.

Assassin’s Creed Board Game Comes to Kickstarter

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Independent board game publishing studio Triton Noir has just announced that they will be starting Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund on November for their upcoming project, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice.

The company made a reputation for themselves for making V-Commandos, a game loosely based on a fan-favorite stealth strategy title Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines from 1998. Currently, we have nothing more at hand than a single image of an assassin while we wait for November 13 to come quickly.

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The premise for Brotherhood of Venice is set on 1509, during the period of Italian Renaissance and being of cooperative tactical nature, this tabletop game will mainly focus on stealth. Players will create their very own headquarters for assassins and send them to the city to complete their assigned objectives.

There are 20 unique interrelated missions worth more than 20 hours campaign to complete that the game revolves around. The story of the game is set between the timelines of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.

Cassandra from Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice

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This is definitely not the first attempt of making a board game based on Assassin’s Creed and there are a number of Monopoly games based on the series. Among them all, Assassin’s Creed: Arena from Cryptozoic is the most prominent one you can find out there.

Until any official details are released by Triton Noir, we can't even confirm the duration for the campaign after it goes live. Rumor has it that, popular series protagonist Ezio from Assassin's Creed II will have a have cameo role to play.

Horizon Zero Dawn Board Game Fully Funded

Steamforged Games never thought Kickstarter campaign for PS4-exclusive title Horizon Zero Dawn will be funded in hours.

We already know that a tabletop version of PlayStation 4-exclusive title Horizon Zero Dawn is in the works. The latest update at hand is that, the Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund the project by Steamforged Games gets fully funded yesterday within a short time span of two hours for a 21-day campaign.

After being initially announced last month, dedicated fan base of this board game started financially backing up this project. Now, they will probably plan for some more stretch goals.

Horizon Zero Dawn Board Game Fully Funded

RELATED: Horizon Zero Dawn Board Game Announced

Steamforged has a successful history in crowdfunding, notably for raising a $5.4 million pledge for Dark Souls: The Board Game and another $1.04 million to make Resident Evil 2: The Board Game.

The fact that they are directly associated with developers Guerrilla Games and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment of the game rooted people's trust even further. Company co-founder Mat Hart has been working in video game industry for more than a decade and is passionate for tabletop gaming.

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If you have played the tabletop Dark Souls already and loved the cooperative experience it offers, chances are you will end up loving the same idea HZD will present.

Players will choose a tribe from Banuk Survivor, Carja Warrior, Nora Outcast or Oseram Forgesmith; each one represents a unique class that is different in terms of combat styles. For example, some among them might be good in stealth, some excels in traps and some may come in handy for all-out frontal assault.

The Watcher Figure

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Players will join in different roles in the group called Hunter’s Lodge and works collectively to take down all hostile robotic organisms around them. They will compete with each other to earn glory from killing blows to improve their status among their group.

Instead of generating random map like their board game representation of Dark Souls, Steamforged Games takes a more strategic approach by letting them choose their own path. But remember, less resistance means fewer parts for upgrade.

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Considering many fans of outcast protagonist Aloy may not be very familiar with the format of a typical tabletop, they tried to make it really simple though. The studio launches a full-length gameplay playthrough detailing many details you have been wondering about from their Kickstarter campaign and here it is.

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By pledging your support to the campaign, you can either sign up for the $123.77 worth early-bird package before Friday or pay $130.28 for the other one that will be available till September 28.

Each of these packs comes with three expansion sets and new enemies to encounter from Horizon Zero Dawn universe. Steamforged also pitched for five additional expansions for spending an extra $221.48.

Horizon Zero Dawn Board Game Announced

Steamforged Games is working on an exciting Horizon Zero Dawn board game with Sony Interactive and Guerrilla Games.

After receiving praise from critics for PlayStation 4-exclusive title Horizon Zero Dawn, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Guerrilla Games also enjoyed this action role-playing game being one of the best-selling games on the platform in 2017.

It leads Steamforged Games to go for a Kickstarter campaign to launch a tabletop version of the game. If they are triumphant in this operation to fund their board game developing project, fans will have the chance to explore HZD in a unique way.

Horizon Zero Dawn Board Game Announced

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Already worked with board games that are based on fan-favorite video games like Dark Souls and Resident Evil 2, Steamforged Games is most probably going for another of their successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.

Picking HZD for the project was for an incredible open world full of mechanised creatures it offered beauty and danger to fans in a contrast that was never done before. Guerrilla Games and Sony are closely incorporated with them in development of this tabletop.

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For starter, Horizon Zero Dawn board game project has just a rendered piece of outcast protagonist and skilled warrior Aloy with a staff like weapon in her hand and then there is a piece of those self-replicating combat robot Scrapper.

Latter are mechanical beasts that dwell in her hunting ground and provide resource loots when reduced to pieces. Both of these figures are still not colored but still looks promising enough for surely to become astounding pieces when complete.

Rendered Piece of Aloy and Scrapper

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Currently, their designs are in a very initial level and received primary rendering, which are awaiting approval from license owners. Although they don't have much to show but given their track record, you can hope to witness another dynamic experience on board and card.

Besides, Steamforged studio members are huge fans of Horizon Zero Dawn from the moment of release, which not only gives them a sound understanding of this action RPG game but also helps them to connect with fans.

Hellboy: The Board Game Earns $1M on Kickstarter

Hellboy: The Board Game campaign from Mantic Games has already raises $1M in just two days on Kickstarter.

Comic-book writer/artist Mike Mignola has created his fictional superhero Hellboy in 1993 which became a very popular character from Dark Horse Comics. Two live-action movies based on the comics were out in 2004 and 2008 that starred actor Ron Perlman in titular role. Two straight-to-DVD animated films came out followed by two video games; Hellboy: Asylum Seeker and Hellboy: The Science of Evil. A tabletop miniatures game, Hellboy: The Board Game is on its way, which is dominating Kickstarter.

Hellboy: The Board Game Earns $1M on Kickstarter

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The new tabletop board game featuring Hellboy is from Mantic Games, who has a history of developing other similarly successful projects like Dreadball, Mars Attacks: The Miniatures Game and The Walking Dead: All Out War Miniatures Game. Recently, comic-book publisher for the mentioned half-demonic protagonist, Dark Horse Comics have teamed up with them to bring this project to life and giving hardcore Hellboy fans something to cherish for.

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An official Tweet from the studio has offered up a detailed look at their pre-production miniatures of some of the lead characters from the franchise.

After picking your jaw up from the floor, take a closer look at these incredible Hellboy pre-production miniatures painted by the supremely talented @StudioGiraldez . Which one's your favourite? pic.twitter.com/HAgaQV1vVr

— Mantic Games (@manticgames) April 10, 2018

Hellboy: The Board Game marks to be the 16th consecutive successful campaign on Kickstarter by Mantic Games and also one of the most successful one ever. You won't believe if we tell you that as soon as they started the campaign, it got fully funded within 18 minutes and this is exactly what really happened. By the next 48 hours, they have successfully mounted over a million dollars and this just proves how desperately fans have been waiting for ages to get a board game on the hero.

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The company previously raised more than one million dollars for their projects Deadzone: The Sci-fi Miniatures Board Game and Dungeon Saga: The Dwarf King's Quest. However, both of them took a month to collect that sum, which was a stretch compared to the recent operation. Besides, the developers took inspiration for creating characters for the game straight from Mike Mignola's work on comics. The game itself is quite expansive and there are many fan-favorite antagonists as well.

The Tentacle Monster from Comics

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Base rule of this board game is pretty simple where players will choose one of the members from Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense among Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, Johann Krauss or our main protagonist Hellboy himself. Then you are on a quest to gather clues spread throughout a tile-based map and try to gather as much as possible before the final showdown so you fare well in boss-battle against Giant Frog Monster, Tentacle Monster or even Grigori Rasputin. Don't forget to add their Frog Minions or Nazi Troopers to that list of troublemakers.

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Also known as Anung un Rama, Hellboy is one of the well-known iconic hero figure who sets himself apart from every other super-hero out there in every manner. All the stretched goals they had planned for the game are already funded by almost 10,000 backers and more miniatures are unlocked from stretch goals. Hellboy: The Board Game campaign is still running on Kickstarter and will continue till May 25, 3 PM ET.

Street Fighter Board Game is Kickstarter Exclusive

Video game enthusiasts who wander around YouTube often have heard the name of "Angry Joe", who makes videos on games and movies with his own opinion and he is pretty famous. What you may not know that this guy is also responsible for a brand-new board game Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game on Kickstarter right now. Joe is the creator and co-designer of this project which he showcased earlier on his channel.

Street Fighter Board Game is Kickstarter Exclusive

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This ambitious project was launched on Kickstarter with a $400,000 funding goal and already surpassed the initial goal. Officially the board game is licensed by Capcom and it's almost near completion with miniature samples available for display. So basically, if you take part by pledging a certain amount of money, you are just pre-ordering the game. Even if you are a Street Fighter fan, we would recommend you read the rulebook manual first.

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In case if you are interested in Kickstarter-exclusive board game Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game, we have a clip showcasing 3D Renders of miniatures from the game Set!

Concept for Street Fighter board game was first came to light in one of Joe's videos back in November 29, 2015. He just teased the fans saying that it would be a mash up of Dragon Ball Z, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter series of fighting games. He talked about developing a rule set called Universal Tactics System for the project and shared plans to take it to Kickstarter for funding. Since we are seeing only Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game to be made, there will possibly be more.

Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game

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Your selected classic Street Fighter characters will fight on large, expansive maps against single opponents or teams, which is the best part. There is a boss fight mode that allows three of World Warriors to go together up against Akuma and Bison. Movements are played out strategically by cards and dice on a grid-based map. Considering everything we mentioned and didn't, it seem like a perfect time for this board game to come out soon as Street Fighter series reached the 30th anniversary milestone.

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Although many might think that Street Fighter probably isn't quite a fit for a board game but this project looks fascinating and it's already happening. Lastly, even if you do not enjoy board games in general and would likely to never play with the set, the miniature figures are worth collecting as they are no less than any action figures already available on market.

Regalia: Royal Edition Release Date Announced

A Kickstarter funded project by developer Pixelated Milk, Regalia is a JRPG video game which mainly took inspiration from the Final Fantasy days of the creators or the modern day classic Persona series. Even though the game is from a European studio, it is loosely based on JRPG theme while they also mixed up the storytelling adventure in it at the same time. Regalia in its core is a tactical RPG that has a great plot to follow you up on your journey.

Regalia: Royal Edition Release Date Announced

The game is about a young man named Kay who is out to restore his kingdom of Ascalia, interacting with other in-game characters who will come across as he advances in his quest. As he journeys to get back his throne again, Kay will lead us to some of the most cherished JRPG moments in recent times. The combats you will get into will be well rewarding if you are tactical enough because that is the main objective of the game.

At times, you can tone down the difficulty level a bit or heck, you can even skip battles if you do not wait to see what plot point is laid ahead of you. However, avoiding fights will not simply make the trouble go away because there is always something up in Ascalia and you've got to deal with them at some point. Just as you are already troubled with a lot that is happening around your kingdom, you also have to face the drama of your teammates’ as well.

Many may think that JRPG has to do something with being Japanese but the developers at Pixelated Milk believe that it is more to do with a certain gameplaying style. They pointed out that a game made in the West will certainly have unique design differences than the one made in the East but that is not essentially a bad thing. Games like Baldur’s Gate or Final Fantasy series has taken a very different approach to the genre despite being considered as consider role-playing games.

Theo’s Blood Aversion

Indie studios often face a few common problems like shortage of crews on board and thus, it becomes very difficult for them to get the project up and running on time. The entire process of "just make a game together" turns out to be whole lot of painful than anyone ever thinks of initially. No matter how determined you are to get out of cliche stories and sometimes bothersome trends, you always have limitations slowing you down.

The game was never meant to be a hero's journey or how he bravely saves the world, it was planned as a single plot that could produce many spin-off stories if needed. Upon its entry on the other consoles in the market, Regalia surely will make a name for it and a unique identity of its own.

Regalia is a Japan-themed tactical RPG was released back in May 2017 for PC and according to the announcement of Pixelated Milk, the game is about to make its debut on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and Xbox One as Regalia: Royal Edition in 2018. There will be no Early Access on Steam for the game and nor it will allow any in-game micro-transactions either. The Royal Edition contains a 30 hours long adventure to experience and many vivid characters to interact with.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar Released

Comic-book fans of Marvel Comics might have heard the name of the famous artist Joe Madureira (Astonishing X-Men, Ultimates 3), who rose to fame with his manga-styled drawing and left huge impact on the Uncanny X-Men series. He happens to be the creative brain behind the action role-playing hack and slash video game Darksiders. There was a time when he created a creator owned mini-series for Image Comics called Battle Chasers which did not receive an ending until now.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar Released

Madureira formed Airship Syndicate in 2015 and started working on the game Battle Chasers: Nightwar, which is solely based on his own comic. Finally, we are getting some closure if not an ending at all. Always inspired by the sheer awesomeness of Japanese manga and anime, Joe wanted to bring back his creation to life and Nightwar is the completion of that dream.

Games like Final Fantasy, Lunar and Suikoden always fascinated him and the impact truly shows on his work, whether it is on paper or now flourishing in his own game. Whatever the fuel of his inspiration was, it worked out in the end. Because at that time, Battle Chasers topped many other superhero books out there and Battle Chasers: Nightwar has also shown promise to its Kickstarter campaign.

The Devilhunter Alumon

Although he left Gully, Garrison, Red Monika and others behind after issue #9, his devoted fans who loved the series never let him forget about his unfinished work. Then came the formation of Vigil Games and Darksiders series. Vigil Games split up into two fractions; Airship Syndicate and Gunfire Games. The former is working on Battle Chasers: Nightwar and the latter is trying to make Darksiders 3 a reality.

Joe and his team had little to nothing to work on except years of working experience and they decided to come up with a plan to create an RPG that will have tactical turn based combat system. Since the cast of Battle Chasers universe was already pretty diverse and remarkably fit for what they are aiming for, it quickly became the subject of the game.

World Full of Wonder

Then working on a prototype version for a year and more, seeking publishers for the project and getting ditched, leading them to head for Kickstarter. It was literally the last resort for the game to see light at the end of the tunnel and guess what? It created enough buzz among the gamers that publishers were also interested in taking another look at the project. Things got even better when old buddies from THQ Nordic offers a helping hand to take it to the next level.

The game is officially launched now after years of the path of struggle to reach out. Battle Chasers: Nightwar is currently available to play on Mac, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Nintendo Switch owners however have to wait till the end of the year, December 31 to get their hands on this game.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar Artwork Released

After THQ was declared bankrupt, developers of Darksiders and Darksiders II from Vigil Games have formed Airship Syndicate. Their creative director and CEO Joe Madureira (Astonishing X-Men, Ultimates 3) happen to be a veteran comic-book artist for Marvel Comics and needless to say that his run on the industry was quite legendary as he played a key-role in revolution of the long-running Uncanny X-Men series.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar Artwork Released

In his time as an artist for Image Comics, he left a series; Battle Chasers unfinished and when his team of Airship Syndicate selected the title to be made into their first turn-based RPG project, both Joe and his die-hard fans were jumping with joy in excitement. The game, Battle Chasers: Nightwar is going to see its release on October, 2017 and lead artist Joe Mad has released a couple pieces of concept arts ahead of the release.

Gully

Most of the chat in this game takes place via 'dialogue portraits' as it used to be in the old days RPGs. Some of the characters were done before they came up with the concept for it. For example, the major role of the series is of a little girl named Gully. In the comic-book arc, she is younger but here in the game, she is more grown up now. The hood of her cloak is over her head now and she doesn't wear shorts anymore.

Garrison

The second in line is the sword-wielding, lone-warrior Garrison. Though, he is not the character that the plot revolves around, yet he is the primary male protagonist here. Considering all other facts in hand, his design layouts probably remained the closest to the original he had.

Red Monika

The game certainly is bringing back the gun-toting, beautifully voluptuous bounty hunter Red Monika. They had to bring her for her link with both Gully and Garrison. Here, her design gets under some changes as ‘proportions’ of her frame is slightly changed. While playing, she will have to jump around, fire those guns in her disposal and all that. So, Joe maintained a balance of keeping her agile and sexy at the same time, even though the changes have upset a lot of fans.

Knolan

A wizard, who is fighting the good fight for centuries, Knolan is the same old' grumpy gandolf as ever. A mentor to Gully, his final designs also remained as closed to the original as was in the books.

Calibretto

Calibretto Concept Art

Another fan-favorite character from the series was the war golem Calibretto, who joined the heroes in their noble quest. This gentle giant returns as the fabled story has started adapting into a modern RPG and by the looks of it, the color scheme of his armor got brighter. Otherwise, every other aspect is almost the same as they were when we saw them on printed pages.

Alumon

Alumon Concept Art

Battle Chasers: Nightwar has introduced a brand-new character for the game, who never debuted on the pages of comic before. A demon hunter in nature, Alumon was added to the Battle Chasers roster of heroes after fans have stretched a goal on the Kickstarter campaign for the game. Alumon uses dark magic and he is a mysterious persona whom you might mistake as a villainous figure at first. The mask on his face is partially responsible for that vibe though.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar Splash Art

Joe did the first piece of splash art for Battle Chasers: Nightwar, that colorist Christian Lichtner has later touched up. Now, this was the first time he drew the characters for the first time in many years and given the fact that the original colorist from the series also collaborated on this piece, made it even special.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar Alternate Splash Art

The first piece of splash art is amazing and there are no doubts about it. Then, Madureira created another alternate version of the original. This one featured his line art and Grace Liu poured life in it with his exceptional coloring skills. This took quite a long time to finish as the artist constantly ran out of space on paper he was drawing on and had to attach more and more every time he did. The scan process was also tiring and the whole experience brought the sweet result in the end.

Junkers and Bandits

The junkers and bandits you will come across during your exploring in the game have a little place in the concept board as well. The heroes will be meeting them on places all over the island they embark their adventurous journey on. Often, they might seem like the different variation of the same model if you notice closely.

Wargolem Gunhulk Concept Art

The saga of Battle Chasers takes place in a steampunk reality setup where technology is blended into the mix of sword and sorcery very well. So, you shouldn't be surprised when you encounter a giant who wields a big-ass machine-gun and points it at your face as you plan to make your next move. The name Wargolem Gunhulk clearly announces the source of inspiration for creating such creature.

First Combat Background

The Second Dungeon

Vibrant World Visual

While creating the concept for the surrounding environment, the artist made a couple of experiments with the already existing lore of fantasy setting that he created years ago. Sometime, he just took a few pieces of his previous work and meshed it with something entirely new. The final visual of the concepts are quite spectacular to be accurate.

Upon witnessing such a parade of masterful artwork for the game, it is safe to say that Airship Syndicate was totally aware of what they were designing and why fans were so hyped out for the project from its Kickstarter days. Needless to say that while the designs and drawings are a prime asset for the game, it doesn't lack in gameplay either. Battle Chasers: Nightwar will be available to play on Mac, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One from October 3, 2017. Owners of Nintendo Switch will have their hands on the game on December 31.