Shadowrun Online - Will it happen?

Some of you may have heard of a little game called Shadowrun. If not, you are truly missing out. It mixes Fantasy with Sci-Fi with amazing results. A popular pen and paper RPG for over 20 years, it has had a few forays into the realm of video games with mixed results. Recently Jordan Weisman, credited as one of the creators of Shadowrun way back in 1989 started a project on Kickstarter called, 'Shadowrun Returns' and it was a huge success, getting over 4 times it's original goal. Following this success Weiseman is trying Kickstarter again. This time to fund 'Shadowrun Online'.



If you are a fan of Shadowrun chances are you have already heard of this project and hopefully you are excited about it. Excited enough to pledge some money. The game is described as

"a cross-platform, online PC, Mac, Linux(see FAQ), iOS/iPad, Android Tablet and Ouya based game, with deep, rich story, sleuthing intel called "legwork", tactical single player, co-op, and player vs. player role-playing action, plus large in-game community hubs, all set in the unique and persistent world of Shadowrun."

It will feature a free-to-play, no money upfront game using micro-transactions and a premium subscription service, plus an optional one off payment for access to a 'Campaign Server' where all in-game items are free and no extra costs. 

It certain seems like they are trying to cater for everyone here. Personally I think this is a great idea, free-to-play seems to be the way to go today if you want to reach a wide audience, but there is a lot of stigma surrounding this pricing model and free-to-play micro-transaction ridden games can often be ignored by gamers. So offering a more tradional option as well is a great move.

You can check out the prototype footage for the game below.

Well I've got to say, this game looks pretty awesome. In fact I'm so excited about it I actually pledged money on Kickstarter for the very first time to help get this project made. The problem is though, it only has (at the time of writing this) 10 days to go and it hasn't reached the half way point yet. As each day goes by it is looking more and more likely that Shadowrun Online won't be funded. This of course doesn't mean the game will never be made, they have clearly made a good start on it already. But it will certainly delay the project for a good while. If your love Shadowrun or just want to play a new, interesting game set in a rich setting then consider pledging some money. I would happily thank every single pledge if the game is funded and that isn't enough for you, how about some cake?

Find out everything about Shadowrun Online right here.

Check out my review of the Shadowrun: Runners Toolkit