American McGee's Akaneiro turns to Kickstarter

Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, the action-RPG from American McGee's Spicy Horse development studio, seemed to have a solid start. It got a formal announcement, beta sign-ups, and even has a decent shot at getting approved on Steam Greenlight. But Spicy Horse says it needs a boost to push the game the last few miles, and to that end the studio has turned to crowdfunding.

"What's been achieved both artistically and mechanically is fantastic," says the game's Kickstarter project page, "but it's just not enough to call the game complete, to satisfy our fans or ourselves. We desperately want the final form of Akaneiro to represent the great amount time and effort that’s gone toward getting it this far. To finish what we've started and present Akaneiro to our players in a truly final state, we need to deliver our promised features to all target platforms. The problem is we’re out of time and money to do so."

The developer is aiming for $200,000, which it says will allow them to add co-op multiplayer, an equipment crafting system, Android and iOS tablet versions of the game, and better community support, among a host of smaller feature additions.

The game itself will still be free-to-play as planned, with an unspecified number of free maps and others that can be purchased or earned with in-game currency, called karma. It also plans to monetize cosmetic items and karma packs.