Original Sin - Post-Funding Update #45, Delayed

With the success of the Kickstarter this might have been expected, but Divinity Original Sin has been delayed to next year February as is explained in the latest Kickstarter update.

We are very determined to implement all the extra features gained through stretch goals the way they should be implemented, which essentially means  that we want to incorporate them in the story, the world and the gameplay mechanics. 

This is  taking us more time than we originally thought, and so, rather than cancelling a feature or a goal, we decided to move the release of Divinity: Original Sin from this fall (as originally announced) to this winter, specifically to February 28th 2014.

We realize this may be disappointing for some people who had hoped the game would still come out this year, but really, we think you'll have a much better RPG experience when everything we wanted to put in, is actually going to be in.

For backers that have Alpha access, expect to have the rough and rugged version of Original Sin by November. Beta should be your New Year's present in January!

For more details on the reasoning, check out Swen's blog.

In our official communication, we’re explaining the delay as the result of wanting to properly integrate our stretch goals. Thanks to Kickstarter these are becoming very integral to the game, so much in fact that parts of the game were completely re-engineered to make room for them.

That last statement can be read in two ways, and both happen to be right: A) Some stretch goals were incompatible with design decisions we had already taken e.g. our character development system wasn’t robust enough to accommodate for companions, and so we had to change things more than we expected. B) Some things in the pre-Kickstarter version sucked, and we took opportunity to fix them as we were re-engineering the game world anyway.

Another reason is simply that we can. Between the funds received through Kickstarter, and the money we’re making from Dragon Commander, we have sufficient budget to invest more in our newest baby, and so we will. Our aim remains to eventually  make the very big RPG that will dwarf them all, and this is just another step in that direction.

In addition there is news about the development

Deeper character creation (traits and talents) made us rethink the stats system, the inclusion of companions meant we had to have more party support, and the day and night schedules affected all the behaviours of  NPCs. And even the world they live in! Because where else would these people live and sleep? 

The following video has Swen & Axel explain what including the stretch goals meant for the development of the game, and features an example of how schedules for instance influenced the game world. 

Then there is news about a Q&A this Friday

We can imagine a lot of you have questions because of the moving of the release date, and to answer those, we'll be doing a live QA session via the Larian Studios channel on Twitch TV tomorrow, september 27th, 17:00 CET.  Join in, and you'll be able to ask David or Swen pretty much anything you want about Divinity: Original Sin via the chat channel. They'll try to answer as many questions as they can, and perhaps even show a bit of the game.

And a video from the Fan day

Thanks jhwisner!