[dropcap size=big]S[/dropcap]kullGirls is unique in the world of crowdfunding in that the developers Reverge Labs had already released the game. The game was co-published and financed by Autumn Games and Konami however due to a series of events, including a lawsuit, the development team disbanded only to later reform under the name Lab Zero Games. Back with Autumn Games, who now own the Skullgirls brand completely, the plan was to support the game with updates and more content but due to the the litigation that Autumn Games were still under the funding dried up; and thus the need for the IndieGogo campaign.
The first dlc character
When I first saw the amount $150,000 just for a dlc character I thought that was a lot, but the developers gave a breakdown on where the money was going. The campaign did well eventually reaching $828,768 which meant 5 new characters, stories for the characters and 5 new background stages. And once they were completed would be free for a limited time so even if you never backed the campaign but had the game prior you would still get them.
I already had bought Skullgirls before the Indiegogo campaign and enjoyed it quite a bit, the graphics were some of the best I have seen in a 2D game, the animation was great, and gameplay was fantastic. The game was easy to pick up but hard to master and had a decent story mode as well as online options, feature wise it was all there but while it was feature complete the character roster was a bit small with only the 8 characters. That’s not to say it needs 40+ like some games have, but it did feel as though it could have done with a few more.
At the time of writing the 5th character Robo Fortune is near complete and I have to say the game is a lot better now, in the beta there are patches every week and the game has been polished and balanced. The developers even included an extra character that wasn’t not part of the original goal, a character that started off as a joke but eventually morphed into a permanent addition to the roster. It feels like the game is now what the developers originally intended and is definitely worth buying if you love fighting games. I am curious on what they will do next once the IndieGogo funded characters are done though. Soon Skullgirls will be coming to PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Vita which will help them to get the game noticed more.
