The Wonderful 101's Kickstarter Was About Gauging Interest, Not Raising Funds

One of the great misconceptions about video game Kickstarter campaigns is that, for the most part, they only tend to fund a fraction of the game's development cost. Game development is a very expensive process, and no matter how successful the campaign is, the funds tend to be a drop in the bucket of what is needed to fund a video game. Thus, it should come as little surprise to hear that PlatinumGames' current Kickstarter campaign for The Wonderful 101 Remastered was less about making money for development, and more about seeing whether or not players were interested in the game. In an interview with Gematsu, PlatinumGames' Studio Head Atsushi Inaba confirmed as such.

"Well the actual reason we decided to do a Kickstarter campaign was not for funding at all, it was more about gauging interest in The Wonderful 101," Inaba told Gematsu. "This is a game we've always wanted to revisit at some point in time, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to bring the fans together—to unite them—and gauge interest. And in essence, to release the game. So it wasn't really about the amount of funding at all, it was about self-publishing, bringing fans together, and revisiting The Wonderful 101."

That isn't to say that the funding the game received via Kickstarter is for naught. The money earned from the campaign will go towards paying for the funding goals that were cleared. The Wonderful 101 Remastered will now have a Time Attack Mode, and an in-game remix soundtrack. The remix soundtrack will feature what PlatinumGames is referring to as "a secret special guest." Additionally, one of the funding goals unlocked a sidescrolling spin-off called Luka's First Mission. Platinum has not given many details about the spin-off, such as whether or not it will be included as a bonus mode in The Wonderful 101: Remastered, or if it will be sold separately.

The Wonderful 101 Remastered's May release date raised a few eyebrows among fans when it was announced late last week. While fans have to be happy about getting to play the game sooner, rather than later, it's incredibly unusual for a game to come out this quickly after a Kickstarter campaign. Comparatively speaking, four years passed between the Kickstarter campaign for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and its release. Of course, that particular game was built from the ground-up, while The Wonderful 101 Remastered is an enhanced release of an older game, but it's still unheard of.

Despite the fact that this sort of thing is fairly common, some donors might have mixed feelings about the campaign's timing. Since it was already well into development, it certainly begs the question of what would have happened had the campaign failed!

Did you donate to The Wonderful 101 Remastered's Kickstarter campaign? How do you feel about how the funding is being used? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!