Precursor Games explains why it put Shadow of the Eternals' crowdfunding on pause

Today, Precursor Games put its efforts to crowdfund the development of its spiritual successor to GameCube horror adventure Eternal Darkness, a game titled Shadow of the Eternals, on hold. The developer says it plans to relaunch its fundraising plan, both on Kickstarter and the Precursor Games website, in a few weeks.

While the cancellation of its dual fundraising drives may have looked like an attempt to save face — Precursor was far from reaching its goal on both sites — the developer's CEO, Paul Caporicci, says the pause in crowdfunding came about for other reasons.

"Due to the amount of support we've received over the course of our campaign, new exciting opportunities have arisen that will make the game better than we envisioned," Caporicci told Polygon, echoing a statement previously made to its community. "The best way to integrate these opportunities is to temporarily take down the Shadow of the Eternals crowdfunding campaigns on both Kickstarter and our own website today. We are looking forward to sharing details with the community and the media once these opportunities are locked in."

"We have seen tremendous support from our community and this has proven itself to be one of our most valuable assets."

Caporicci wouldn't clarify what Precursor's "new exciting opportunities" were when asked, but promised details in "just a few short weeks." He hinted that community support for the project was behind the developer's decision to relaunch its crowdfunding effort at a later date.

"We actually have seen tremendous support from our community," Caporicci said when asked why he thought Precursor's fundraising efforts failed to gain traction, "and this has proven itself to be one of our most valuable assets. It is because of this support, we been given the opportunity to make this game better than we had originally envisioned. We have already gathered a ton of feedback from our fans and feel that our ability to meet and exceed their expectations will be crucial to future crowdfunding efforts and the success of the final game."

Precursor Games launched its first crowdfunding attempt through its website on May 6, seeking $1.5 million to produce the game's pilot episode. One week later, Precursor kicked off a second, parallel attempt through Kickstarter. Both were shut down on June 6, but the game remains up for community approval on Steam Greenlight.

"None of the team is collecting a salary and we will definitely need the support and backing from our community"

Caporicci says that Precursor Games staffers are continuing development of the game using personal funds. "None of the team is collecting a salary and we will definitely need the support and backing from our community to bring this game to life," he said.

Precursor has designed "the basic structure of the game," he explained, and that working "diligently with our community" will be key to the game's success, should it be funded.

"The talent we've already seen in 'The Order'," he said, referring to its backers and forum members, "has opened up new possibilities in ways we could never have done by traditional development means. This game is going to be all about the shared vision between the development team and our community."

Caporicci says that since the developer divulged its plans to pause its fundraising efforts, Precursor's forums have seen an influx of new members. He expressed little apprehension that Eternal Darkness fans would be turned off by Precursor's multiple attempts at raising donations for Shadow of the Eternals' development.

"We have found that if we are open and transparent with our community they are very understanding."