There has been a lot of Kickstarter success for virtual reality (VR) compatible projects in 2019 such as the FeelReal VR Mask, Woojer’s haptic vests, and Ramen VR’s current project Zenith. Today, the studio has announced that Zenith has achieved 625 percent of its funding target whilst revealing the seventh and final stretch goal.
With the Kickstarter campaign Ramen VR looked to raise an initial $25,000 USD and easily achieved that within several hours. It’s been so successful that Zenith has managed to raise just over $167,000 with a month still to go. This has enabled the campaign to hit five of its seven stretch goals adding more features. Up until now, the final stretch goal was kept secret. If the campaign manages to hit $250,000, then a Zenith Level Editor will be unlocked, allowing the Zenith community to create and publish their own custom levels for the platform.
“We’re overwhelmed by the support our backers and community as we work together as co-creators to realize our shared vision for a cross-platform VR and PC living anime world,” said Andy Tsen, co-founder of Ramen VR in a statement. “Lauren and I, along with our small team of indie bandits look forward to continuing our development journey with everyone who has been so kind and supportive… to everyone, we say we will see you in Zenith soon!”
Zenith is a cyberpunk style VR MMORPG inspired by anime and JRPG classics. Designed as a dynamic living world with cross-play between VR headsets such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and PlayStation VR as well as PC in mind, the project will offer players the chance to fight, craft, and explore massive open locations. The team promises advanced AI ensuring monsters will dodge, hide, and hunt in lifelike ways, while players will gain abilities to pull earth shields out of the ground or suck creatures in with gravity wells.
“Thank you and wow, is all I can say,” adds Lauren Frazier, co-founder of Ramen VR. “We wanted to involve our community and share Zenith’s progress early on, so with the voracious reception we’ve seen from backers, we’re able to do so which we’re beyond thrilled and humbled.”
With such a grand project in mind, Ramen VR is looking at a summer 2020 launch for Zenith. Funding goals currently start from $29 for those interested. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Zenith as the Kickstarter continues, reporting back with the latest updates.