Having recently interviewed Jason Archinaco of Retro Ronin about Voxelnauts‘ Kickstarter ongoing campaign, I was happy to see that the game has now reached 50% funding. Now that we are at the halfway point, I got in touch with the Archinaco again to ask a few more questions about how the Kickstarter process is treating the studio.

Once again his passion for gaming comes out in full force, and it’s great to see more of how he is just one of us and enjoys a great game. Archinaco’s excitement is contagious, and I felt more and more excited to play Voxelnauts and make the planet I want the longer our conversation went on. I’m looking forward to feeling like being my own little developer.

They also have their community forums up, where you can see the excitement in fellow fans and backers – such as where Retro Ronin is allowing content creators to start early, using tools like MagicaVoxel, to create items for the game! If they love it, they will even show it off on their stream.

MMO Central: How do you feel with the Kickstarter being halfway?

Jason Archinaco: We are very happy about the early adopters and their enthusiasm for the game, as well as all the positive media coverage. As for being half way, we obviously wish that we were already funded and on the way to exploding kitten numbers- and who knows, a lot can happen over the next 12 days. But, frankly, the truth is that a lot of video game companies have sold a lot of virtual stuff over the years, and never delivered. And that is holding people back from buying – that’s the number one thing I hear. So I just point them to my 20 year legal career and the principles I have stood for, and say – I am owning these promises. We will deliver. The people that know me the best or just look at my legal career know that is true – and that we will deliver. Also, all the companies that would naturally want to buy us know that as well – Facebook, Microsoft, Google – and maybe even Amazon now. Lego might know too, given the surprise announcement of their MMO during our Kickstarter. But who knows.

MMOC: Anything you would like to say to the people already backing the game?

JA: To begin with, simply thank you. Once we hit 500 backers is when I knew that people really appreciated what we were doing. And that was a break through moment for everyone on the team. But let’s leave aside just people supporting us on Kickstarter. Let’s talk about all those people already building the world, making virtual items that our CEO Jon Olick is then showing off inside the game world on Twitch (how many CEOs host Twitch programs?). Those early creators already understand what freedom we want to provide to them and to everyone else. And when this game hits its one billionth machine one day, we will look back at these videos – almost like archival footage, and really be in awe of how smart some people truly are. Mass adoption always comes later with epic marketing campaigns – not like ours – on a budget so we can put all our money / resources into the game.

MMOC: Are there any new tiers that new backers who haven’t been enticed to look forward to?

JA: We are really talking about moving the PVP planet up and having that available sooner. Jon Olick is our John Lassiter. Ask Lassiter what happens when he says I want to do this and here is why – especially since it makes sense. Plus, I love PVP, so when Jon, me and Dan Mross talked about it – it just made sense.

And, we are talking internally about something else that we will announce in Kickstarter that will address the Duke Nukem Forever baloney – the endless vaporware image problem that the video game industry has.

Sorry to digress, but I wish that people knew more about me personally sometimes – and about how mad I got at those Duke Nukem Forever guys when they wouldn’t deliver that product. Frankly, I am surprised that there wasn’t a Frankenstein like demonstration outside their headquarters when it wasn’t delivered.

So, here I am, years later, waiting for the game that I want to play to finally be delivered – a game build on a scalable architecture where virtual property rights can finally really be observed – and where gamers like me can invest their time and energy into the world, and not just lose it a couple years later to an outdated game engine. Instead, as computers get faster, the world can be updated or improved upon. Old worlds might want to remain the same, new worlds might want to be more detailed. Who knows.

But what I do know is that is the game I have always wanted to be delivered – a truly persistent virtual world. And that is the game we intend on delivering, one build with the correct DRM management architecture to protect virtual property rights, so that a truly persistent virtual economy and universe can develop.

So, we may introduce something into the Kickstarter – open the prize box so to say – but we haven’t made that decision exactly yet. And if we do, it is us addressing the Duke Nukem Forever — FOREVER — problem that still remains out there.

MMOC: Do you have any plans or activities planned for the final days of the Kickstarter ?

JA: Perhaps 🙂