Lorne Lanning, creator of Oddworld, says that if New ‘n’ Tasty manages 250k unit sales then he’ll be able to fund a remake of Abe’s Exoddus, but if another 250k sales were piled on top then we can have something new.
A new Oddworld game won’t be made by Lanning for $2 million, but he ”might do it for five or six.” A Kickstarter wouldn’t generate the cash he needs for a full new adventure.
Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty is a remake of the original Abe’s Oddysee and is in development by Just Add Water and is due for release early this year for PC, Mac, Linux, PSN and Wii U.
”I don’t think it’s anything less than a $5 million title. So to Kickstart it I think would be a little deceptive and a risk. But if we sell half a million copies, that’s not going to be a problem,” Lorne Lanning said at GDC this week.
”If I’m doing a new Oddworld game, I’m not going to do it for $2 million. I might do it for five or six,” he added. ”People keep asking me, ‘Why don’t you Kickstart Oddworld? You could get at least $1 or $2 million.’ And I’m like ‘What would I do with a couple million on Kickstarter? On a new Oddworld title?’ Not much.”
”I could redo Exoddus for a couple million. I could do that. But a new title, which means new characters doing new things and controls that are great - that’s where the real time and expenses come from.”
”If you already have the game and you’re just doing a conversion, it’s easier,” noted Lanning. ”From scratch, I don’t think we could do an Oddworld title for a couple million dollars.”
Lanning has been investing more time with The Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot. ”Over the last year and a half, I’ve designed Fangus extensively. And I would like to be able to move into Fangus as soon as a new IP in Oddworld,” he explained. Nothing is set in stone for the studio, as they have other plans on the drawing-board.
Just Add Water is very confident that New ‘n’ Tasty will hit its 250k milestone and so Abe’s Exoddus is their likely next project to get working on for a makeover. Lanning plans for New ‘n’ Tasty to sell for $30 (£18).
”This game will play better, look better, and you’ll have more fun with for more hours of play than games you’re paying $60 for,” Lanning said. ”That’s a promise. And I can say that with absolute confidence. If this had a publisher, the price would be higher and they’d be calling in triple A.”