With only 9 days left for funding at its Kickstarter page, developer Gears for Breakfast had announced several updates for its indie-platformer A Hat in Time, including a possible Wii U release that is under consideration. A Hat in Time is a collect-a-thon game that is heavily inspired by the likes of Banjo-Kazooie, with a cel-shading style that fans of Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker will find familiarity with.
The game currently has over 4,400 backers with more than $130,000 pledged in crowd funding. So far, the stretch goals for developer commentaries, multiplayer co-op, bonus chapters, and full voice-acting have been met, while more goals like a harder “New Game +” option ($165,000) and the Hat Kid’s Spaceship Hub ($200,000) still need to be backed. Other stretch goals like having a track composed by Grant Kirkhope of Banjo-Kazooie fame ($150,000) and a “gibberish-mumble” feature as an optional language ($180,000) are also in need of backing.
Regarding its status for a Wii U release, A Hat in Time‘s future on Nintendo’s system has not yet been confirmed, but several companies have expressed interest in helping bring the game over, though they are still in the early talks. Nintendo of America had also shown interest in the game after noticing the massive support by its fans.
According to the developer, there are challenges that need to be overcome before porting the game to the Wii U. From the Kickstarter page:
Firstly we must obtain a license for the Unreal Engine, and it’s been known to cost $500,000 and up, then we must apply to Nintendo to get access to their development kits which are necessary to port the game over to the Wii U. This is why we are talking to publishers as hopefully they can give us access to their development kit as well as licenses in return for a share of the games income.
The people at Gears for Breakfast have expressed that they want to see A Hat in Time reach as many platforms as possible; and for now the game is slated for Mac, PC, and Linux. There are still 9 days of funding left, so hopefully the game may meet the required funding to meet the stretch goals, and be released on other systems.
