As Dual Universe heads towards its Alpha release due at the end of 2017, Novaquark have raised an additional $3.7 million to support the game. The initial crowdfunding campaign for Dual Universe raised $670K. Combining this with the various donations and other funding, brings the total funding amount to an astonishing $7.4 million to build the first online virtual reality civilisation.
“Last year, Dual Universe became the third highest funded video game on Kickstarter, collecting more than $670K from over 8,000 backers,” says JC Baillie, CEO at Novaquark, in a press statement. “With this new round of funding, we have reached a new level of support that will help the project reach its full potential.”
Dual Universe wishes to focus on immergent gameplay in an evolving and persistent universe, all centered on a player-driven economy and community. As yet we don’t know more about release dates, Alpha or otherwise, nor do we know precisely what players will get for that $7.4 million investment.
In a recent Developer Diary, Novaquark detailed some new scripting control elements within Dual Universe. The Screen Units and Control Units introduce the ability for players to combine assets and LUA scripting to create anything from starships to simple games within Dual Universe. Check out the DevBlog.