ReVeN not launching until sometime in 2017
Varia Games’ ReVeN was originally funded on Kickstarter back in 2014. It’s been a long road since then, but the game still isn’t anywhere close to release.
Developer Austin Morgan provided an update on the project’s Kickstarter page this week. In it, he explains that ReVeN won’t be ready until sometime in 2017. This is in part because of time spent making the side-game XBridge (which was last thought to be coming to Wii U in Q1 2015).
The full Kickstarter update reads:
There isn’t much I can say that may reduce the flak we’ll receive at this point, or hateful comments. However I (Austin Morgan) feel it’s necessary to fess up to at least one thing here, and also explain where I’m coming from so you’ll all understand where we are and where we are headed.
The ReVeN Project is pending an undefined release date within 2017. I take full responsibility for starting the side project XBridge and dragging John into it which cost us a lot of time and energy, though it was certainly worth it to us for the skills gained (I can’t emphasize this part enough) and the economic potential of it’s full version release on steam. There are those who absolutely love XBridge and we have a certain fan base that emerged just from that game alone.
These are not people who saw a trailer and were willing to front money, but rather actually played a game by us and said, “Holy Cow this is actually surprisingly good! I see limitless potential here when it goes full version.”(you can read the steam reviews if you would like to see for yourself)
That is something a trailer cannot convey, the fact that we actually DO know what we’re doing.
I only say this because I do know where we are and where we are headed and I don’t want to leave out any details about why we are currently making the decisions we are and why we postponed ReVeN in the first place. You may still likely hate us for it, but at least you will understand why.
The truth is that $33k is an incredibly small amount of money to fund a project with, in fact it’s nearly impossible to fully fund a project with that amount of money. Ultimately after the split, fees and taxes, I personally wound up with around a humble 9K. just enough to allow me to live for 6 months or so, buy a 2.5k car and also a computer which has the power to actually make games without having to wait a minute for the game to load EVERY SINGLE TIME I CHANGE ONE THING AND TEST like on my old laptop… the one that made the kickstarter trailer… yeah that sucked…. horribly.
Despite the lack of funds John and I continued to work towards being able to fund ourselves through game development. We knew we would have to get side jobs regardless of what happened, and we did. That car I bought I use to deliver pizzas on the weekends (just enough) so I can live and continue making games. XBridge is currently the shortest answer to turning a profit and making our lives more livable so we can focus ENTIRELY on ReVeN, the project we are the most passionate about.
On a side note: Fleshing out the universe of ReVeN through XBridge the prequel has given us many insights into the game we want to make the most: ReVeN. And I have a feeling it’s also the game you guys want the most too, after all you did fund us for it. Putting up money means a lot more than just verbally supporting someone. You essentially gave your time and energy so we could do the same for you, us on a much larger scale obviously, but you get it. We’re eternally grateful for your believing in us enough to give!
Despite how it may seem, we HAVE NOT abandoned you, YOUR money was put to good USE, ReVeN WILL BE made and released as soon as it can be. We will also release updates AS SOON as we can. I’m working tirelessly on wrapping up the full version of XBridge SPECIFICALLY so I can work solely on ReVeN and dedicate my full time, resources and (more importantly) acquired skills into making it the experience we foresee in our minds and what was written, drawn and conceptualized.
If you have any more questions, I will be available to answer them here in the comments. I (Austin Morgan) apologize for not meeting your expectations. I sincerely hope your trust in us has not been completely lost or that we can at least rebuild that trust when all is said and done and the full release of ReVeN is on Steam. John and I appreciate your patience, support, and even the hateful comments which at least show you were once very passionate about our idea too.
God Bless you all, Austin Morgan
