British and Russian forces, and a Pacific Theatre expansion

World War II shooter Battalion 1944 has been doing really well for itself on Kickstarter: it got funded in three days, and in a week it had doubled its goal. Now with three days remaining, developer Bulkhead Interactive has announced stretch goals, and wow they’re ambitious.

While there are the expected usual bits of polish in extra maps and visual enhancements, the stretch goals also include playable British and Russian forces at £325,000 and £400,000, and a whole expansion set in the Pacific Theatre at £600,000.

The biggest goal by far is a full single-player campaign at £1.2 million, which was a heavily requested feature by the game’s community. While Bulkhead assures backers that multiplayer will always be the core focus of the game, it admits a campaign will take a hell of a lot of time, money, and effort.

I have to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of stretch goals on crowdfunding campaigns. I think the extra money made could be put to better use polishing the already funded game, rather than bolting on extras which obviously weren’t part of the developer’s original vision.

Despite that, the early stretch goals – the ones that are more likely to get funded – don’t seem too overambitious, and will help give the game just that extra bit of polish. I hope that’s a sign that Bulkhead knows not to spread itself too thin, because what we’ve seen of Battalion 1944 so far looks really promising.

Battalion 1944 has three days remaining on Kickstarter, with a slacker backer campaign expected to run afterwards. The game is to be released for Xbox One, PC, and PS4.