In the spring, the Dutch team KeokeN Interactive (Deliver Us the Moon, Deliver Us Mars) dismissed its employees due to lack of funding. Only the success of the Kickstarter campaign for the new part of the Deliver Us adventure series could save the studio from closure, and this week the required amount was received.
Image source: Steam
Deliver Us Home was funded just hours before the campaign ended. In total, more than 2.3 thousand investors donated over $123 thousand (acceptance continues). Only the minimum goal ($108,688) was open – for the second (transferring the game to Unreal Engine 5) less than $2 thousand was not enough. The developers thanked the participants for their support and spoke in detail about how their studio was on the verge of closure.
Over the past 18 months, the team has demonstrated its work at more than 200 meetings with publishers and investors. The authors refined the prototypes taking into account the strategies of potential partners, but the negotiations were unsuccessful. By April of this year, the studio had exhausted its financial reserves, and the founders had to fire all employees.
«“We were devastated,” the creators admitted. – We are still in this state. The story could have ended there, but there was still a glimmer of hope. In 2016, Kickstarter opened up a world of new possibilities for us. Eight years later, with two games under its belt, the idea that it could work again didn’t seem so crazy. The morning after our last meeting, a small team of volunteers set about creating a demo and organizing a Kickstarter campaign.”
The demo that will be released to investors draws on all of the team’s past experience – gameplay systems, mechanics, world history, art direction, animations and sound were created over the past years. But at the same time, the authors put a lot of effort into presenting something “new and exciting” on Kickstarter.
«We are not marketers,” they continued. – We are developers. We love creating worlds, stories and gaming experiences. We want to make people feel something and think about who we are as a species and where we are going. Games are entertainment, but also an art form. We hope to contribute to this unique combination. Thanks to you, we are now able to do this again.”
In the comments to the Kickstarter blog post, backers praised the creators for their determination and admitted that they believe in their next project. “I’m very glad this happened,” wrote Gilberto Dias. – You deserve it”.
Deliver Us Home takes place in the 23rd century. Humanity has long abandoned the Earth, which has become uninhabitable due to climate change. In the role of an interplanetary astronaut, a descendant of evacuees, users must arrange a new home for people.
Like the previous parts, the third will be a single-player story-driven adventure from a third person perspective. Players will have to travel through a vast world in the spirit of Metroidvania, collect resources, survive, uncover the secrets of the mysterious settlers who arrived here long before the hero, and restore the planet. They will also be able to improve equipment, an all-terrain vehicle and a robot companion.
The story is told through magazines, holograms and messages. According to the authors, even beginners will understand the plot – it is not necessary to complete the first two games. They promise an expressive atmosphere of the planet, at the same time “majesticly serene and ghostly deserted,” “breathtaking landscapes,” advanced graphics and many memorable moments.
Full development will begin in the second quarter of 2025. The release is scheduled for the second half of 2026 on PC (Steam, GOG).