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We were excited that the classic Suikoden RPG series was getting a spiritual successor a few weeks back: Eiyuden Chronicle. But its initial success of £1m on its first day, has continued to grow and Eiyuden Chronicle is now the biggest Japanese-backed kickstarter to date and the ninth biggest title of all-time on the platform.
Which goes to show that Kickstarter still has the ability to surprise, especially in regions where it hasn’t historically been a huge force.
The game has now hit $3m, to the delight of developer Rabbit & bear Studios. Suikoden veteran developer Yoshitaka Murayama, the creative director behind Eiyuden Chronicle stated:
“Eiyuden Chronicle is now the single most backed project by Japanese people ever. For this project, I want to take the fans’ passion and put it in the game—that’s how I feel. I’ve seen people on social media saying this is the first Kickstarter they have ever backed and it makes me so happy to see that passion and support. Anyone in the entertainment business probably feels the same way—they want to make as many people happy as possible. Usually it’s a feeling you get on release day when you sell your game, but with Eiyuden Chronicle, we are able to feel that even at this current phase. And you get to feel it directly from the fans’ voices which, again, is a great feeling. Thanks for all the enthusiasm and support. It really does keep me going. So please join us on this two year journey of developing this game.”
In addition to the many Stretch Goals, Rabbit & Bear Studios has stated they will be adding a 9th additional character to the game, bringing the total number of characters to 109.
That number is significant to the fans and developers, as 108 is the number of characters in Suikoden, so it’s somewhat symbolic to have the new game go one step further.
“For this commemorable 109th character, we’d like to create a new character with everyone through a voting system. We genuinely hope everyone will continue this journey with us together,” stated Murayama about the new character’s addition.
