Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Jul 7
Project Phoenix Targets 2031 Release After 7-Year Silence and $1 Million Kickstarter
Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Jul 7

Project Phoenix Targets 2031 Release After 7-Year Silence and $1 Million Kickstarter

1 articles · Updated · Kotaku · Jul 7

Summary

  • Hiroaki Yura told backers on July 7 that Project Phoenix is now aiming to finish production at the end of 2031, with a release date to be set afterward.
  • Seven years after the last update, Yura apologized for going silent, saying he chose not to post unless he had something "worth showing" and now admits that decision was wrong.
  • A 2-minute prototype gameplay video and a rough-mix main theme from Nobuo Uematsu accompanied the update as proof the long-delayed JRPG is still in development.
  • Yura also addressed concerns over other games he shipped during the delay, saying none of the more than $1 million raised on Kickstarter was diverted and that those projects instead helped fund Phoenix.
  • The new target pushes the game from its original March 2015 estimate to a potential 18-year gap between its 2013 crowdfunding campaign and release.

Insights

Can a game designed in 2013 still be relevant when it finally launches nearly two decades later?
Is self-funding a failed Kickstarter with new studios a developer's redemption or a cautionary tale for the industry?