Back in July Japanese studio, Spicy Tails announced work on a virtual reality (VR) project called Spice and Wolf VR, adapting the light novel series Spice & Wolf for headsets. The team have now released further details, revealing that two crowd-funding campaigns will be arriving towards the end of November.
"Spice and Wolf VR" cloud funding will start on November 25! We are preparing to thank for support such as limited goods and notice of production situation. pic.twitter.com/g3dkhSkUy5
— SpicyTails@ (@spicytails) October 31, 2018
Spicy Tails will launch a Campfire and Kickstarter campaign on 25th November to help fund Spice and Wolf VR, although there are no details regarding how much the studio is seeking. Backing tiers will feature ‘limited goods’, which sounds like you’ll get more than just the videogame for your money – t-shirts and screensavers are quite common, plus actual character models for more expensive tiers are also a possibility.
Since this summers first announcement Spicy Tails has added a couple of images and short videos showcasing the development of Spice and Wolf VR, keeping with traditional 2D comic book imagery rather than going for a 3D look.
The original story follows a 25-year-old travelling merchant called Kraft Lawrence. After stopping in the town of Pasloe, he comes across a wolf-deity named Holo who is over 600 years old. Taking the form of a 15-year-old girl – except for a wolf’s tail and ears – she wants to join him so she can see the world and eventually return to her homeland.
二次元の中に入る夢のコンテンツ、ＶＲアニメ『狼と香辛料ＶＲ』製作中です。背景ラフとあわせたりしてチェック中の画像です。静止画だと魅力伝わりにくいですね……。 pic.twitter.com/uHaYG8r1SQ
— SpicyTails@ (@spicytails) October 19, 2018
Spice & Wolf VR will support HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and other headsets when it arrives in early 2019. Original series author Isuna Hasekura will be involved with the new project as well as anime voice actors Jun Fukuyama (Kraft) and Ami Koshimizu (Holo).
Spicy Tails is best known for its VR title Project Lux which came to HTC Vive at the beginning of the year. It takes place across five ‘episodes’ during a court trial set in a future where most humans have cyberbrains.
For another example of 2D animation brought to VR, then there’s always Square Enix’s Tales of Wedding Rings VR for Oculus Rift. As more comic book style adaptions are brought to VR, VRFocus will let you know.