Pathfinder: Kingmaker Kickstarter Ends Soon!

Thursday, July 6, 2017

The countdown has begun on the Pathfinder: Kingmaker Kickstarter by our friends at Owlcat Games! With only a few days remaining, the project has reached it's funding goal, and is headed towards the next stretch goals. Pathfinder: Kingmaker is an isometric single-player computer RPG based on the Kingmaker Adventure Path, where you'll be able to explore the Stolen Lands, survive the harsh wilderness, and local threats, all while building up your own settlement.

Haven't heard of Owlcat Games? Lisa took to email just a couple weeks ago to talk about our new partnership and the current Kickstarter project.

Concept artwork for a troll boss in Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

Since we launched the world of Golarion and the Pathfinder RPG, I have eagerly awaited the day when I could announce a single-player computer RPG based on our game and world. Many companies have approached me over the years, but the fit was never quite right.

Last year, our friends at Obsidian connected us to the folks at Owlcat Games, who had some interesting ideas for a Kingmaker CRPG. Owlcat wanted to meet us at Gen Con and show us what they had in mind. I was expecting maybe a Powerpoint presentation, but they brought a work in progress. To say I was blown away was an understatement. They had clearly put a lot of time, effort, and thought into everything—and we hadn't even signed a deal yet! I ran around the convention finding various Paizo employees to look at it, and everyone got super excited. We started work on a licensing deal right away.

A couple months ago, Owlcat came to the Paizo offices to show us a vertical slice of Pathfinder: Kingmaker. A vertical slice is a small segment of how the finished game is going to look and play. We were all mesmerized playing the game, which was filled with a ton of familiar Golarion hooks in the artwork and mechanics. A lucky few of you at PaizoCon 2017 had the opportunity to play through a similar vertical slice, and all the feedback we received was super positive.

I need to tell you a little bit about Owlcat Games. They're a new development studio, but don't take that to mean they're inexperienced! Some of them have been together for more than a decade, and the list of games they've helped create is strong. They have the backing of one of the largest game companies around, so you don't need to worry about their stability. And you definitely don't need to worry about their enthusiasm for Pathfinder—they're longtime gamers, and have several different tabletop Pathfinder campaigns running in their office. They know the setting, the story, and the rules as well as anyone. And they've been joined by CRPG legend Chris Avellone, who is infusing his touch of story genius into our now-classic Adventure Path.

Owlcat Games has the full backing of their parent company to make the game to the specifications that we had approved, but they have a lot of great ideas beyond that spec, so they decided to launch a Kickstarter that's all about making it bigger and more awesome—more sidequests, more companions, more options, more depth.

A great Pathfinder computer RPG is something that I have personally waited a decade for, and I couldn't be more excited to see it come to fruition.

The kickstarter is headed towards it's next stretch goal at $700K, where a new chapter to reveal hidden secrets of original Kingmaker story will be added, as well as support for both Mac and Linux. Check out the Pathfinder: Kingmaker Kickstarter project and select your pledge level before the campaign ends on July 11!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director