Hi everyone, Audi here. I work with our console and handheld developments here at Sekai Project, and I wanted to personally write to you all today as we been working day and night to deliver you today’s announcement.
Today, Regista, Yeti, and Sekai Project are happy to announce that we will be offering a PlayStation Vita port to the campaign. Additionally, I would like to share with you some details what made this development rather challenging for us and why we were not able to add this reward sooner, as well as the results of our constant work. Naturally, the desire to offer our fans a PSVita port was shared among all of us through all parties involved, and has been discussed thoroughly. However, there are a number of significant challenges tied to this becoming reality.
Programming and Licensing
- First of all, there are the challenges of Regista adapting the PSVita version's engine to be compatible with the English scripts. It is not a simple task of merely replacing the Japanese text with English text. It is a matter of reformatting the entire engine to accommodate the English script.
- This requires full development from Regista with full QA support. Combined with other various factors such as re-licensing the voices for a new region and porting, this means it will take at least a year for it to be released. Thus, the PSVita port won’t launch alongside the PC version this coming March. We understand for some this might like a long wait, but I am personally overseeing and assuring all of you continuous update and insight into the full development of the PSVita port.
Size
- The second issue is that the game's size exceeds the size limitations of PSVita’s physical medium (this was the case even with the Japanese version). This means that we can only offer the PSVita version digitally, which for many is a non-issue, but for some let down in a Kickstarter campaign. We want our fans rewarded accordingly as they choose to support our project, and this was a concern for everyone involved which needed to be discussed thoroughly in order to reach a comfortable option for everyone.
Pricing
- I also want to break down the pricing for those of you who will look at other campaigns for comparison. In order for us to secure and ensure a PSVita port, we worked together and discussed with Sony directly how to find the most solid solution to realize development. First off, the PSVita port is exclusive to the $225 tier and up.
Reasons for pricing
- First, we want to guarantee this reward completely, since we worked very hard to get it added to the campaign. Therefore, it has been placed at tiers $225 and up to ensure that the additional development funds are gathered rather than teasing a stretch goal only for it to potentially not get met, leaving no one happy. Other campaigns that offer PSVita versions as a pledge have often required an amount near 500k or so to help fund development.
- However, as faith to our backers we have decided either we have to omit developing the PSVita version entirely or place it at an amount where it can be guaranteed regardless of stretch goals met. We know we are taking a risk with this, but we want to offer what you guys are asking from us.
- Secondly, as stated, the game is too big for the PSVita's physical medium, so we are not comfortable adding PSVita to a tier in which there are simply no rewards beyond a digital download considering the limited availability of the physical goods that are exclusive to this Kickstarter and cost of development that comes with this development. Therefore, for your backing of the PSVita, you will receive the assorted rewards that are included with the PSVita tiers that will only be produced for this Kickstarter campaign along with a copy of the game for the PC, all of which you can enjoy while development on the PSVita version is ongoing.
But now, we are here, and we have gotten the approval to add and develop a brand new English PSVita port of Root Double! Everyone on the team has been toiling around the clock to make this a reality. We at Sekai Project and Regista have heard your voices, and never stopped working to find a solution. Now, we can finally say that Root Double will come to the PSVita.
Gameplay Video
The long awaited gameplay video is now available! Please enjoy the first 25 minutes of the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAMMSCwL3NA
Tier Updates
Also, as special thanks to backers, we’re adding your name to the True Ending credits of the game if you’re on the $99 or higher pledge. We also updated the right sidebar to include dedicated tiers for PS Vita version. If you are on a tier that doesn’t have PS Vita version included, you can swap to it easily.
