The success of the Doublefine Kickstarter is allowing many older games to be reintroduced to today's audience, or at least the possibility of such a thing. The latest up for crowd-sourced funding is the PC classic "Battle Chess."
The game is being developed by Subdued Software, a small studio that has been around only for a few years. But it was founded by various industry vets, including Phillip Adam, former president of Interplay, which published the original release in 1988.
Subdued Software mostly has a small handful of DSiWare games under its belt, along with handheld and some console ports of "WWE All-Stars." Their latest will be for the PC, like its predecessors, but also for the iOS.
The new version will have a number of modern flourishes, including fully articulated 3-D models, a revamped chess engine that is designed for chess players of all skill levels, online play, and achievements.
What makes this latest Kickstarter so noteworthy is that the game is still being published by Interplay. Often in the case of proposed revivals, a percentage of the money is allocated to obtaining the rights from the current license holder. This does not appear to be the case here.
Many have wondered if major studios would begin to use Kickstarter to fund their own games, and the "Battle Chess" revival might in fact be the first example of such a trend.
Subdued Software is asking for $100,000, and as of this report, they have $5,507 with 175 backers.
Matthew Hawkins is an NYC-based game journalist who has also written for EGM, GameSetWatch, Gamasutra, Giant Robot and numerous others. He also self-publishes his own game culture zine, is part of Attract Mode, and co-hosts The Fangamer Podcast. You can keep tabs on him via Twitter, or his personal home-base, FORT90.com.