“Bloodstained” Creator Koji Igarashi Talks Kickstarter Success & Video Game Plans

Just a few weeks after his new video game Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night closed its extremely popular Kickstarter campaign, creator Koji Igarashi sat down with USGamer to share details about the new game and crowdfunding success.

Bloodstained is a 2D exploration-focused, side-scrolling platformer that features RPG and crafting elements. Inside the game players are playing as Miriam, an orphan scarred by an alchemist curse, which is slowly crystalizing her skin. She battles her way through a demon-filled castle summoned by Gebel, an old friend whose body have become more crystal than flesh. During its time on Kickstarter, Bloodstained secured $5,545,992 with 64,867 backers.

While chatting about using the funding method, Igarashi stated:

“I never expected it to blow up like it did. I expected it to be a little small thing and hopefully barely slide through to the point where I could make a game for the first time in several years. Then it just got crazy. There was so much support and funding that came in. It made me realize how powerful the desire to see these games again was and just how supportive even a single person can be to try and get you from point A to point B. That Point B being my dream of being able to make another game — so I was humbled by seeing all of that support.”

Noting the plans for the $5 million funds, Igarashi explained:

“I’m just throwing out some ideas. At $5 million, we cleared the roguelike mode that of course will randomize different key rooms or setpieces together to form its own random castle. Potentially, there’s something like where… say, on Wednesdays, the castles will be more likely to have “this” piece to it or potentially “this boss” or “these parameters” appear. Or on Friday, the odds of this type item or drop occurring is higher. So there’s certain ways that you can add in daily bonuses or parameters attached to the randomness as a rule set towards the roguelike mode of the game.”

In regards to how he plans to keep Bloodstained standing apart from other games and not being overshadowed, Igarashi added:

“So, the reality is this, when you’ve got a game that has a core fan group of followers that love that sort of game, you are always fighting against pressure. So even when I was making Igavania games at Konami, every time I would release the next one, there would be a lot of very passionate fan eyeballs on it to see if it really was the next sort of game that they wanted to play. So I’m familiar with dealing with pressure.

 

“Obviously, backer pressure is a bit different, since it’s a straight punch versus a roundabout kick, and that means you’re going to be in a situation where you’re going to have to explain that you’re listening the feedback: “I understand what you think is good, but on top of that, this is what I feel is the right direction to go in.” The challenge is when to choose the fan ideas and when to choose your own concepts and where to find that balance. That will be a new challenge, but I certainly feel that it’s the sort of pressure that makes a game better than worse.”

The game is set to be release in March 2017.