Dark Storm: Ascension Art

Dark Storm: Ascension Kickstarter Launches + Trip to Alaska

Indie startup company, Fenrir Studios has launched their Kickstarter campaign following a successful Steam Greenlight, where the proposed game got over 13,000 yes votes. Quite the achievement for a studio that claims their inspiration is to pay homage to the popular Metal Gear Solid franchise. In fact, finding any indie developer creating a stealth action game is rare.

Since the launch of the Dark Storm: Ascension Kickstarter campaign on August 3^rd, 80+ backers have pledged over $2000, with the numbers steadily growing each day. Sure, these aren’t high numbers compared to some recent games featured on Kickstarter, but most of them had major developments, behind the wheel – even Sony backed one particular project. For an indie, gaining any traction from a cynical audience is an uphill battle.

Fenrir Studios is also giving away a demo/prototype of their game, which they are calling Dark Storm: UDK Build. The demo, which is said to feature elements that the developer wishes to include in the full game is currently available on Steam and IndieDB – where the latter is currently featuring Dark Storm on their front page.

Originally, Dark Storm was being developed using the Unreal Developers Kit, hence the UDK build. Apparently, they’ve since moved to the Unreal Engine 4, which is a major reason for their Kickstarter where they are seeking 50k.

It should be noted that among Dark Storm: Ascension’s tiers is a free trip to Alaska, which is currently set for 1 person that donates $10,000. The developer states this backer will join them on a trip to Alaska, which is the setting of the game.

The campaign runs through September 1^st. So if you are interested, show these small Indie’s your support. 

Kickstarter - Headaches, Some Crying, and Fingers Crossed

So I work for Fenrir Studios as a writer, and for a nearly a year I've loved what I've done. I've helped create a wonderful story (doing much more work than I ever thought I would have to), and have had the chance to work alongside some of the most talented and friendly people I've ever had the privileged to work with.

Previously, for four years I was a writer for Burning Man Studios, which was fantastic, at first. For a time we had over 30 people working with us, a partnership with the Swedish gaming school system that offered us a whole lot of interns to slave over our game or 11 months - we even had a movie in development based on our property, while our MMO seemed to be on the brink of major funding. However, that ship sank, and fast when the economy went under and I lost my job. So for a time I thought about leaving the game industry behind and focused on my own writing, where I would eventually publish two successful Roman historical novels, among other things. So I decided, what the hell, I might try my hand again at game writing, so I joined Fenrir Studios.

The work has been challenging, having to go back to having people tell me what to write, and seeking approval for my ideas; a big difference from writing your own novel. And now the headaches begin again - Kickstarter - you damn wonderful, awful gut wrenching, soul crushing site.

So two days ago we started our Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1201252455/dark-storm-ascension

Things were going fine for a little while - the money started rolling in, I started sending out 300 emails to everyone you could imagine, as our hopes soared. Sadly, now, it seems we've come to a dead end. Not only has a bigger, possibly better, and professional game stolen some of our thunder, team members are also a bit down, mixing up our unit cohesion that existed before, which ultimately reminds me of the final weeks at Burning Man Studios - to be so close to greatness, only to have all your hopes and dreams come crashing down.

I know it is only two days, and a lot can happen in the next 27, but I'm hoping history doesn't repeat itself. We have such an amazing game (not just saying because I wrote it) but you can feel the heart and soul that our people have poured into it. Of course, we will still continue to work on Dark Storm if our Kickstarter fails, but it doesn't help much when you are trying to get other people to see the potential in your work as we do. I've always had a hard time measuring success, it would just be nice if it was more define this time.

No matter what, the good fight must be fought. Onward and upward, so they say.