Kickstarter MIA: Novus AEterno Devs Break Silence With New Promises

Way back in the forgotten days of the year 2013, Taitale Studios launched a Kickstarter for their massive MMORTS, Novus AEterno. The devs were asking for $200,000, but despite interest from the community they were nowhere near achieving their goal. Fortunately, as time ticked down on the campaign some Angel Investors took an interest in the project.

The investors offered Taitale $125,000 of their proposed budget with the understanding that the team would fund the remainder. The devs immediately canceled their initial campaign and relaunched with the new, more attainable $75,000 funding goal which they then proceeded to absolutely crush. All told they managed to raise $268,875 by the time the Kickstarter closed in January of 2014.

Unfortunately, as any Kickstarter backer can tell you, a lot can and will happen over the span of 3 years. This appears to be particularly true of ambitious MMOs. For over a year now the Kickstarter updates for the game have been silent. While Taitale hasn’t released an official statement as of yet, they have posted comments addressing backer concerns with a promise to deliver answers soon. Possibly as early as next month.

“… in our next update we will be writing up as much as possible about what happened in the past and where we are going now. Expect it early December.”

The reason for the wait is explained to be so the team can include updated footage with the announcement. This will give backers a better idea of exactly where the project currently stands.

Setbacks & Solvency

A primary contributor to the behind the scenes struggles on Novus AEterno was the discontinuation of the game’s engine. With no further support planned the team had little choice but to start over with a new engine. Under even the best circumstances this is a timely and expensive move. For Taitale, who’s Kickstarter funding had dried up after only 6 months, it was particularly devastating.

The team finally caught a break after 2 years of self-funding when they received a proposal that would help them not only fund, but also finish the project. Unfortunately, this proposal also came with a hefty NDA which has kept the studio silent about the game’s progress. With the NDA finally lifted, backers are eager to see the changes Novus AEterno has made after more than a year of relative silence.