August 11th saw a new Kickstarter update for Last Year, the 5 vs 1 survival horror game. There was plenty to report on, as you might expect with four months having elapsed since the last update. This latest post included the news that the character models (five survivors and three killers) are finished, an update on the latest build status, and some gameplay updates. Most importantly, it delivers confirmation that Last Year has been officially approved for Steam by Valve.
For a project with an often shaky looking future, this is a major milestone and should serve to both reassure backers and silence doubters. Here at Cliqist in particular we’ve covered Last Year several times with concerns ranging from the insubstantial campaign, scam warning signs, worries over lack of developer experience, the intellectual property dispute and the infrequent updates. Even as recently as August 9th I listed Last Year as my biggest Kickstarter regret – although in my defense it was regret at my own actions in backing a project that at the time had no actual gameplay footage.
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkysLdRZ-GA[/embedyt]There is still the issue of the elephant in the room and the elephant in this case is wearing a hockey mask and wielding a machete. That’s right it’s Friday the 13th: The Game, the source of the aforementioned IP dispute whose presence continues to hover menacingly over Last Year.
Both games are due to be released in Autumn 2016 and although specific dates have yet to be announced the eventual timings could be crucial. Given their similarities it will be a race against time to be the first to finish for commercial reasons – although from the perspective of a backer I’ll be happy for the developers of Last Year to take their time and release a product that actually delivers on all the promised features.
