Bill Roper, a Blizzard veteran who worked on the first games in the Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo franchises in various capacities (producer, design, voice-over, etc.), has announced that his studio has secured funding for Innsmouth Mysteries.
The studio, Lunacy Games, was actually supposed to produce Hellgate: Redemption, a sequel to Hellgate: London, a cult classic Diablo-like game that Roper created after departing from Blizzard, and a game called Skinwalkers, which would merge the Weird West and Cthulhu settings, with players acting as cowboys. However, speaking to GamesBeat, Roper said the studio couldn't find anyone who would fund this project, which required between $15 million and $20 million.
They did find someone to fund Innsmouth Mysteries, though. Big Bang Accelerator agreed to provide $500K for the project, which is a cooperative horror extraction roleplaying game inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft. In a mysterious 1920s seaside town, a team of player-controlled supernatural investigators must uncover the truth, collect arcane artifacts, and stop an ancient evil from being unleashed before midnight strikes.
Ying Sha, co-founder of BBX, stated:
Lunacy Games has a clear and compelling vision for a Co-op Horror Extraction RPG, and it's backed by a team of veterans whose track record speaks for itself. We are proud to support studios like theirs that are pushing the boundaries of games. We see Innsmouth Mysteries as a project that perfectly aligns with our mission to support talented teams to bring high-quality, deeply engaging experiences to players.
For his part, Roper believes there's a significant middle ground between triple-A and indie games that is currently underserved, a place where exciting gameplay mixes with deep, immersive, and story-rich experiences, which the studio aims to deliver with Innsmouth Mysteries.
Lunacy Games currently has just 13 employees, and Roper himself contributes to the audio work as well. There's no release window yet, but we'll keep track of the progress.
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