Obsidian’s Project Eternity tops Kickstarter target

Donations for Obsidian's crowd-sourced isometric RPG exceed minimum amount in less than three days.

Remember when isometric RPGs ruled the role-playing roost and the likes of Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale were at the pinnacle of the genre? Well prepare for a return to such halcyon days, as Obsidian (who had a role to play in the creation of all three of the above titles) gird their loins for another such endeavour; their latest RPG, so far known by its working titles “Project Eternity”, having exceeded its $1.1m target on crowd-funding site Kickstarter in under three days.

Described as ‘something new, yet reminiscent of those great games’, the developer claims the game will see the studio go back to its roots to create an ‘epic PC role-playing’ – a prospect seemingly only possible through Kickstarter due to it being ‘almost impossible to get funding through traditional methods for a game like this,’ in the words of Obsidian.

‘”Project Eternity” is going to be a reality because of you,’ reads an official message on its Kickstarter page. ‘We’ve hit our goal quicker than anyone expected, and the last day has been overwhelming.’

Following that first confirmation a second message has been issued confirming a series of ‘stretch’ goals that Obsidian will implement if the money continues to be invested by fans of both the developer and genre alike. $1.4m for example (which the project has already surpassed) will lead to expanded options for character creation, $1.6m will see Obsidian port the title to Mac, while $2.2m will see the developer look to broaden the title still further with a Linux version promised.

It’s looking as if “Project Eternity” (by whatever name it will eventually be known) will be available in April 2014 for PC and (most-likely) Mac.