In light of yesterday’s news about the suspension of Areal’s Kickstarter campaign, West Games has issued a statement about the situation. You’ll find it in full below, which also reveals a new PayPal-centric campaign set up on the company’s own website. I suppose this saga won’t be ending anytime soon!

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Funding suspended for Areal Kickstarter

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 5 Comments

Areal’s Kickstarter campaign has just taken a new turn for the worse. All funding for the game has been suspended, and it sounds like pledges are starting to be cancelled.

A message sent to backers states, “A review of the project uncovered evidence that it broke Kickstarter’s rules.”

Here’s the message in full:

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Areal flies past Kickstarter goal despite uncertainties

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 2 Comments

Areal, West Games’ spiritual successor to S.T.A.L.K.E.R., has reached its goal on Kickstarter. The campaign flied passed the $50,000 target over the weekend – raising an extra $12,000 in the process – despite the addition of only two new backers.

The oddities don’t end there, strangely enough. On Saturday, West Games shared a typed and signed letter it had received from someone claiming to be Russian president Vladimir Putin.

West Games said of the letter:

“We thought at first that there’s no way that this is legit, because we are a Ukrainian studio for the most part, and it’s probably the usual trolls trying to deceive us, but then when we looked at it closely, we started thinking that it might be real.”

More: Areal, Kickstarter, West Games

Areal teaser, prototype video

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U eShop | 1 Comment

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. devs looking to fund spiritual successor “Areal” – Wii U included in target goal

Posted on 10 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments

The creators behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R. have formed a new studio known as West Games and launched a Kickstarter campaign today for a spiritual successor to the series.

“Areal” is a shooter described as “a massive and intricately detailed open world environment that is extremely varied and colorful, even though it’s set in a post-apocalyptic setting.” The game is totally non-linear, meaning “players can choose how their characters act and speak – everything from how you talk to who you kill changes the storyline of Areal.” Battles are influences by several elements such as “your character’s traits, your choice of supplies and weaponry, your current surroundings, whether or not anomalies are present, the possible presence of mutants, and the usage of various metamorphites that serve to enhance and upgrade your abilities.”

West Games hopes to raise $50,000 by July 24. If successful, Areal will come to Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, and Linux. You can check out the Kickstarter campaign here.

Thanks to Brandon for the tip.