Game: GRIP: Combat Racing
Platform: PC, PS4, Switch, XBox One
Publisher: Wired Productions
Release Date: 06/11/2018
Uh oh. We've been hyped about Caged Element's Rollcage reboot GRIP since it was first announced last month, so we couldn't help but fear the worst after discovering its Kickstarter campaign has now been canned.
Despite raising over $150,000 Canadian dollars from over 3500 backers and a fevered pitch, it was becoming clear the campaign was unlikely to meet its lofty $657,000 target. "It's hard to post updates to a campaign, knowing it's unlikely to succeed," the developers wrote in a frank update.
"Yes, we realized a while ago (as did many of you) that things were not looking positive for reaching our funding goal. That said, we continued to push. We released a new action-packed trailer. We did interviews. We tweeted, emailed and posted everywhere we could. Sadly, we just did not receive the exposure we needed to maintain the momentum after you all gave the campaign such a fantastic start."
But does this spell the end of the road for GRIP? Not if Caged Element have anything to do with it.
In an effort to give fans a playable sample as soon as possible, the team are now focusing on pushing development forward and release a playable demo of GRIP on Steam Early Access, giving players a chance to provide feedback and shape the direction of the game as it develops.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=D2dJ0WofSzs%3Frel%3D0
Meanwhile, those who still wish to support the developers financially can still donate on the GRIP website. Doing so will grant you access to a Steam Early Access code ahead of its release which should be no later than November 30th, along with additional goodies.
The initial Steam Early Access release of GRIP will contain the following planned features:
- 1 car type (12 skins)
- 1 track (daytime & night-time versions)
- 1 playground map with track designs, obstacles, physics objects and destructibles
- 3 weapons (missile, gun, mine)
- 2 power-ups (boost, shield)
- Standard Artificial Intelligence (navigate course, shoot you when opportune)
- Play modifiers (slow motion, unlimited ammo, 3x weapon power, disable pick-ups, 2x engine power, etc)
- 1 exclusive music track (from Technical Itch & Richie Londres)
Following this, subsequent updates will concentrate on these key areas:
- Finalize vehicle physics
- Implement basic multiplayer
- Create various track design layouts
- Add additional pick-ups
- Add different car types/classes
- Improve AI
- Add additional car model
This isn't the first time a Kickstarter campaign has been scrapped in favour of Steam Early Access. You may remember BugBear were in a similar situation after failing to secure target funding for Next Car Game's (now known as Wreckfest) on Kickstarter. They were hoping to raise $350,000. After a week on Steam Early Access, they made $1 million in sales. Hopefully Caged Element will find similar success.
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