On a stream a few weeks ago, the heads of Lab Zero Games unveiled plans to crowdsource the funds needed to add the first of three planned DLC characters for Skullgirls, Squigly. The character, which Lab Zero claims is “approximately 1/3” done would require approximately $150,000 dollars in funding to complete ($40,000 will supposedly go towards paying the reward tiers in the crowdfunding and other miscellaneous fees). Once the amount is reached, the flex will go towards a planned second and third DLC character. Squigly will be available for free for three months after creation if the funding is successful.
The beleaguered developer has had financial trouble ever since their publisher, Autumn Games, was sued for $15 million dollars for Def Jam Rapstar. This froze the publisher’s funds, which also cut off funding to Lab Zero. It’s another sad story in a long list of things to happen during Skullgirls‘ development, including having a patch too large for Xbox Live. The game was released to critical acclaim on April 10th, 2012 on PSN and XBL.
In other Skullgirls news, the PC port is still coming, and a free Steam code will be one of the reward tiers for the DLC crowdfunding. The PC version will not support crossplay with the PS3. However, it should run in 1080p and be fairly easy to run (One of the main developers remarked on it being able to run on his “toaster of a computer”).
So what do you guys think about this? Personally, Skullgirls needs more characters, since, even though the current roster is very deep, 8 characters is very small. The team seems to be going about this in the right way, and I do like the idea of the developer sticking with their game despite all the odds.
If you want to donate, the IndieGoGo page is here: Keep Skullgirls Growing
