Hamilton company cancels web campaign to fund video game sequel

Hamilton, Ont.-based company Precursor Games has cancelled its online campaign to raise money to resurrect the cult video game series Eternal Darkness.

Precursor launched the drive to bankroll Shadows of the Eternal on its site as well as on the crowd-funding site Kickstarter in early May, raising $100,000 in the first day. A month later, the total stood at around $300,000, well short of the company's goal of raising $1.5 million.

Related: Shadow of the Eternals video game crowdfunding raises $100K in a day

"Since we announced this Kickstarter campaign we have seen more support from our community than we had ever hoped for," Precursor CEOPaul Caporicci wrote ina statement posted to the company's website.

"Along with this support has come a host of a new exciting opportunities that will make the game better than we envisioned. As a result, we have chosen to temporarily take down the Shadow of the Eternals crowdfunding campaigns on both Kickstarter and our own website on Thursday, June 6."

Supporters who had pledged through Kickstarter will not be billed and those who donated through the Precursor website will receive full refunds, Caporicci said.

The company, he noted, will launch a new Kickstarter campaign "in just a few short weeks with a reveal of these exciting new developments."

'Spiritual successor'

Caporicci spoke with CBC Hamilton in May about his company's quest to revive Eternal Darkness. The new game, dubbed a "spiritual successor" tooriginal,was released in 2002for theNintendo Gamecube system.

The first game was a cult hit and gained widespread critical praise, but didn't achieve mainstream sales success. It took place over different time periods and drew heavily on horror elements like an in-game "sanity meter" that causes the character to lose his or her mind asas reason isdepleted.

Caporicci said Shadow of the Eternals wouldn't be a direct sequel to the first game, but would channel similar themes and feelings. People that enjoyed the first game should definitely be pleased with the new effort, he said

"We're trying to tie in the themes and the feelings and the ideas of that game and bring it alive in today's video games."