Veteran developers behind the acclaimed X-Wing videogame series are set to launch a new Kickstarter campaign for its space combat simulator Starfighter Inc.
Starfighter Inc. was devised by developer Impeller Studios as spiritual successor to the X-Wing series, a multiplayer online space simulator with highly customisable ships, realistic physics and a hard-sci-fi feel. The studio had previously launched another Kickstarter in 2015 which did not meet it’s funding goal, but they announced at PAX East that they were launching a new campaign for the game alongside Kickstarter themselves. Luke Crane, Head of Games at Kickstarter said: “This game looks fantastic, and we’re really excited to support it on Kickstarter’s platform.”
Virtual reality (VR) support and fully-playable PvP was demonstrated for the first time. “We’ve shown that we know how to create an intense and immersive combat experience,” said Lead Designer David Wessman. “But we’re also passionate fans of the genre. We wanted to do something different with Starfighter Inc that makes it even more compelling. We want it to feel like the real deal – to make realistic space combat fun and believable. A cockpit sim utilizing both VR and PC is the perfect fit for our vision. With the incredible experience and talent of our team, we are thrilled to offer what we believe is the most exciting space combat game on the market to date.”
This may be the first game that Impeller Studios has worked on, but the team is comprised of experienced industry figures who have worked on projects such as Crysis, Saints Row, Far Cry, MechWarrior 2 and the Star Wars space combat series X-Wing. The main writer is Rusel DeMaria, who is known for work on tie-in fiction in the Star Wars universe associated with the X-Wing and TIE Fighter games.
“Our greatest challenge was to keep everything as realistic as possible,” said Senior Art Director Tim Hoffman. “We have done enormous research on everything to do with a realistic portrayal of space, and using the Unreal 4 engine we have been able to realize truly stunning game visuals. I’m quite delighted with the results.”
VRFocus will keep you updated with news on Starfighter Inc. and it’s Kickstarter campaign.