Remember Project Phoenix? No? I can't blame you. The project, a real-time strategy game with "strong" JRPG influences, was announced way back in 2013 on Kickstarter, where it very quickly racked up $1 million in crowdfunds. These days, the campaign page looks like a graveyard, with PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 proudly listed as supported platforms and a "mid 2015" estimated release window.
In those early days, Project Phoenix held a lot of promise. The art was beautiful and painterly, like a concept for what Octopath Traveler would eventually bring to life. The Kickstarter had earned more than 10 times its initial funding goal, and the team of developers included genuine industry veterans with credits on The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, Final Fantasy, Diablo, LA Noire, and more. So what went wrong? Well, no one was really sure until now.
After missing several release dates, updates on Project Phoenix, which would typically come from game director Hiroaki Yura, gradually slowed to a halt until 2019 when the whole thing went completely dark without reason. Naturally, the seven years of total silence between then and now have thoroughly eroded public trust in the project, but Yura has now released a lengthy Kickstarter update (via Resetera) explaining what went wrong, what's being done with the money from the campaign, and what's next for the game.
"It has been seven years since my last update. I'm not going to soften that or bury it further down the page," says Yura. "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.
"Years ago, I made myself a rule that I stuck to even when it cost me. I wouldn't post an update unless I had something worth showing," he adds. "For a long stretch I didn't, and instead of filling the gap with mock-ups and promises, I went silent. That was the wrong call. A plain 'we're still working, slowly' would have been far better than nothing, and I'm sorry I didn't give you that."
Yura says Project Phoenix went silent for a number of reasons, one of which being personal issues that "took a lot out of" him. Meanwhile, one of the key programmers "the whole technical side of the game depended on" departed the project at some point, and "rebuilding around that hole took years and money I did not have sitting in an account.
"Rather than burn through what remained and come back to you with nothing, I chose to step back and build a proper business first. One that could pay for this game the way it deserved, instead of running it into the ground. I built that business with my own means, not with what you had pledged, and its work is what funds Phoenix now," Yura says.
One of the biggest pain points around Project Phoenix was that, in the years Kickstarter backers went without any updates, Yura was off forming other studios and releasing other games, letting the perception that the project had been abandoned stand without explanation.
"The reason it happened is that those projects are how I earn the money to pay for this one," explains Yura. "The money has only ever moved in one direction, from that work into Phoenix, never the other way. We did not get rich off them. We are not anywhere close to rich. Whatever room those projects create goes straight back into being able to finish Phoenix the way it should be finished."
Yura also freely admits to having previously lacked a thorough understanding of the needs and demands inherent to a game of Project Phoenix's scale. Those other games and studios Yura was involved with were the stepping stones that would eventually lead him back to making Project Phoenix, now equipped with the required experience.
"It means the Phoenix you eventually play will be made by someone who has actually done this, not by the version of me who started it without knowing what he was taking on. That is a better game than the one that would have limped out years ago, even if it has cost us the time to get here."
As far as the $1 million, Yura says the "plain talk" explanation is pretty straightforward. "A good part of that paid for the work we did in the early years: character and creature designs, base models, the scenario and the world, and a large amount of Uematsu's music," Yura says, adding that a portion of it went into a widely criticized early gameplay demo from way back in 2014. Still, he admits:
"Not every dollar was spent as well as it could have been, and I am not going to tell you otherwise. But all of it went into this game and its production, never anywhere else. Since then, I have made sure the rest is funded properly, so that your contribution is not the thing holding it up."
While backers and fans generally are right to be skeptical, Yura says Project Phoenix is still in the works and is bigger in scope than originally planned, which is saying something. He hopes production will wrap by the end of 2031, which is sure to sting for people who've been waiting for this thing since 2013 (The Elder Scrolls 6 hopefuls can relate). " I would still choose a target I can stand behind over a comfortable one," Yura says. "As we lock down things I can actually promise, you will hear them, and you will hear them far more often than you have.
"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."
In the interest of transparency, Yura says there will soon be a Project Phoenix Discord where you'll be able to follow along development, reach out to the developers, Yura included, and "hold me to a steadier rhythm than I have kept." Whether that's enough to win back your goodwill is your call, but Yura pledges to put in the work.
"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."
In the meantime, here are the best JRPGs to play right now.
