Project Phoenix Provides First Update in 7 Years After Earning Over a Million on Kickstarter
In 2013, the Kickstarter campaign for Project Phoenix earned over $1 million, and the development team initially planned to release it in 2015. However, by the end of the year, they announced the game would be delayed until 2018. In 2019, they missed the deadline, and the page went quiet. Now, after seven years, Project Phoenix provides its first update.
On July 7, backers of the JRPG received an unexpected, detailed private update from the game’s directors and producer, Hiroaki Yura. And thankfully, one of the backers posted the message on Resetera.
“It has been seven years since my last update,” the message starts. “I’m not going to soften that or bury it down the page. You backed this project, you trusted me with it, and then you heard nothing for a very long time. That silence is mine to answer for.”
“I owe you a full explanation, and more than that, I owe you proof that Project Phoenix is still alive. Both are in this update.”
The message shares the reason for everything going quiet, saying that he made it a rule that he would only post something if it was “worth showing.” And supposedly, after seven years, there hasn’t been anything. He said that “a plain ‘we’re still working, slowly’ would have been far better than nothing,” and apologized for being so quiet.
He also acknowledged that since the Kickstarter, he’s worked on and shipped other games, and reassured that no money from the Kickstarter went towards the other games.
He continued, offering pieces of the project that he’s finished, or is almost finished with, including Nobuo Uematsu’s main theme, fully recorded. Backers seemed to be able to download the song. There is also a “roughly two-minute video of where our lookdev and prototype sit right now.”
During an interview with VGC, the director provided some gameplay footage, which you can find below.
The last point was another section of reassurance that backers are still going to get their benefits. “I am not going to throw a fulfillment schedule today that I cannot stand behind yet,” he says, but reassures that the “collector’s editions, the art book, the soundtrack, the figurine, the tester, and the development access,” are not forgotten.
And then finally, the painful news: “I am not going to hand you a release date I can’t keep. Dates I couldn’t keep are a big part of how we ended up here. So here is where things actually stand. We are aiming to finish production at the end of 2031, and the actual release date after that is still to be decided. I won’t pretend otherwise.”
The message ends by saying they’re opening a Discord that they can update more frequently and allow for bakers and fans to reach out to him and the team. “I will be in there and I will read it. Though I can’t promise I will reply to everyone individually, I would like to talk with you there.”
“To everyone still here after all this time, thank you. I don’t take it lightly, and I intend to earn back the trust you put in me.”
