Double Fine’s New Game Project Raises Half a Million Before Hitting Controversy

Double Fine reveals Erika Ishii will work on the game funded by Kickstarter campaign

Image: Dropout.tv

Ishii, whose acting credits include Atsu from Ghost of Yõtei, Valkyrie from Apex Legends, and Lady Deathstrike from X-Men ’97, has become a controversial figure among a segment of the fandom due to their open views about gender, sexuality, and politics. This had a negative effect on the Amnesia Fortnight campaign: At the time of writing, funding had dropped to a little less than $485,000. Double Fine has since disabled comments on X, and has allegedly started moderating comments on Instagram, too.

At one point, Double Fine said that Ishii was “donating their time to support the campaign and the studio’s independence,” suggesting that they would not ask for payment, but the comment has since become unavailable and is only visible through screenshots. Double Fine has not issued further comments.

It’s unfortunate that this controversy is throwing shade over a funding campaign that could lead to the development of an interesting indie game. The four finalists of Amnesia Fortnight, selected by backers, are: Architactics, a tactical city builder where structures can move around and transform to fight; Bard Crawl, an online co-op dungeon-crawling adventure game; Plot Armor, a turn-based RPG combined with a visual novel; and Uprise, a kite-flying high-speed platformer. All these games are based on original ideas or clever twists on familiar ones, and they all sound very fun to play.

Notably, Double Fine also added an unrealistic stretch goal of $100 million to the campaign, which would greenlight a long-requested sequel to Brütal Legend. I guess that’s a dream that will never come true.