Taitale Studios Makes Its Dream Game a Reality, Evolving the RTS Genre to MMO Proportions in the Process
Launches Kickstarter Campaign to Epic Empire-Building Game Novus AEterno to Fruition
ZUG, Switzerland and SAN FRANCISCO, California; November 19, 2013 –Taitale Studios, the Switzerland-based independent game developer, announced today that its much-anticipated game, Novus AEterno, is nearing completion after nearly seven years since its conception. Novus AEterno represents the first-ever persistent massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game (MMORTS) for PC.
A Kickstarter campaign launched today in order to fund the final stage of development and, if the minimum goal of $200,000 is exceeded, accelerate the implementation of expansion features. Last shown publicly at PAX Prime 2012 in Seattle, the game garnered a number of accolades, including Best RTS and Best Innovation. Now fully playable and in closed testing, Novus AEterno has been accepted on the Steam platform – foregoing the Greenlight process, and is expected to launch within the next six months.
“We looked into more traditional partners to take us to market, but found smaller publishers focusing on the free-to-play and mobile trends, while the bigger companies are risk-adverse; unwilling to back anything unproven. As there hasn’t yet been a real MMORTS for the PC, there are no metrics to demonstrate an audience for this type of game,” said Nick Nieuwoudt, CEO of Taitale Studios.
“The early reaction to Novus from the forums and the press tells us there IS a pent-up audience; and that this is the game lots of developers have wanted to make and lots of gamers have wanted to play,” continued Nieuwoudt. “That’s why we are excited to make the supportive gamer community part of the process and part of our success.”
Started as the brainchild of Nieuwoudt, Novus AEterno is the result of the then16-year old’s frustration when he couldn’t find the type of game he really wanted to play. An avid competitive gamer, Nieuwoudt was tired of being limited to 30-minute play sessions of StarCraft against his globally-dispersed friends. He wanted a game he could play continually for weeks, months or even years; a game on a massive scale where strategic decisions have consequences. So he decided to build it, despite having no prior game development experience. He turned to the game forums and eventually amassed a team of like-minded talent and – with support from friends, family, a community of early ‘Infiltrators’ and angel investors; has spent the last seven years making that dream a reality.
The game is based on sandbox style play – meaning there are no pre-set missions or linear storylines to follow. It employs the D.I.M.E. (Diplomacy, Intelligence, Military and Economics) military strategy or empire management philosophy. Players can select the way they wish to play the game by developing alliances and focusing on their strengths. US Air Force Major General James P. Hunt– Retired, the highest military official consulting in the games industry, serves as an advisor to the Taitale team.
Key features of Novus AEterno include:
- A true MMORTS – build your space empire in cooperation with and against thousands (and thousands) in a single galaxy
- Persistent play – No short play sessions. Your empire continues to thrive or be threatened 24/7 through continuous play.
- Based on the D.I.M.E military ‘empire management’ philosophy – Diplomacy, Intelligence, Military or Economy; form alliances and play to your strengths.
- 5 complete race factions – humans + 4 alien races , each with their own lore, fleets and technologies
- Fully-customizable ships – tailor your ships to match your objectives with hundreds of ships divided into 5 separate ship hull classes and wide array of engines, armors and weaponry.
- Stunning intergalactic HD graphics; built on the HAVOK Visions engine
- Soundtrack: hours of full orchestration by Denny Schneidemesser
- Optimized for minimal lag in low bandwidth regions (even playable across dial-up)
The Novus AEterno Kickstarter campaign starts today and runs through December 19th, with backer tiers ranging from $5 to $10,000 with both digital and physical rewards. New tiers and stretch goals will be introduced throughout the 30 days.
“It’s been a long journey since we were first inspired to create Novus AEterno, with many challenges along the way,” said Nieuwoudt. “We’ve learned a tremendous amount, and the support of the gaming community has kept us going. We look forward to delivering a game worthy of that support and watching the community enjoy playing it as much as we do.”
About Taitale Studios
Taitale Studios is an independent game developer seeking to evolve the RTS genre into the MMO era with its first game, Novus AEterno. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland the globally-distributed 25-person team represents four continents and 13 countries, including: Spain, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Egypt, Uruguay, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, Croatia, South Africa and the United States. For more information or to back the project, please visit www.NovusAEterno.com.
Additional Resources:
The Novus AEterno Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2122031929/novus-aeterno-a-true-aaa-mmorts)
Novus AEternoTwitter: @NovusAEterno (https://twitter.com/novusaeterno))
Novus AEterno on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/novusaeterno)
Novus AEterno on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/NovusAeterno?feature=watch)
