Banner Saga 3 Brings The Trilogy’s End Back Where It Began

Arnie Jorgensen and John Watson took a risk leaving Bioware to found their own studio, Stoic. As indie developers, success and failure hinged on being able to fund their next project. Imagine their surprise when their studio’s debut title, The Banner Saga managed to raise over 700% of their Kickstarter goal.

Stoic, used the funds to make their story-driven strategy game into an epic Viking adventure. Promising a mature story, the first chapter of The Banner Saga proved to be a visually stunning, award winning project for Stoic. The success of the initial campaign, in addition to better than expected sales, allowed the studio to remain fully independent through the development of The Banner Saga 2.

Now the team is returning to Kickstarter and once again seeking the support of the backer community. The Banner Saga 3 campaign has just launched seeking $200,000, double what they’d asked for the first project.

What can backers look forward to in the final chapter of The Banner Saga? The bleak yet beautiful city of Arberrang. Here the secrets and motives of our companions will finally be brought to light. Players will face more life and death decisions as they navigate the hand-painted landscapes.

Also returning, classic turn-based combat. Designed to favor tactics over brute force, battles in The Banner Saga 3 will require strategy and cunning to survive. Players can build their party from over 40 unique characters. As heroes gain experience their stats can be modified and their abilities re-balanced to fit into the evolving needs of their warband.

Coming Back To Crowdfunding

It may seem odd that after their previous success, and self-funding the second chapter, Stoic would return to crowdfunding for the final installment of the series. In an interview with gameindustry.biz, Watson explained that Stoic wanted to rebuild their relationship with backers.

“We really neglected our community during the development of Banner Saga 2, because we were focusing on our work. I think that was a mistake. We all agree that was a mistake.”

Stoic is hoping to regrow their crowdfunding community during development of The Banner Saga 3. Returning backers will be listed as a “Trilogy Backer” in the game’s credits. They will also have access to an additional in-game “Trilogy Backer” start screen.

Now that the end of the saga is finally in sight, it’s a great time to get into the series. Late comers can add $20 to their pledge at any tier level to receive digital copies of both previous games when the campaign ends.