Earlier this week, at the PAX West Gaming Conference, Gearbox revealed it was developing Homeworld 3. And fans of the long-awaited game even got the chance to see a brand new reveal trailer that showed off elements of the upcoming game. But shortly after, Gearbox opened up a crowdfund for the game and asked fans to give up at least $1 for the new game.
Of course, Gearbox ended up with much more than just $1. At the time of this writing, the game had earned $439,460. But Gearbox does not need the money to get the game going. In fact, all of the money generated is only going to make sure the game is on a strong foundation for later development.
The official explanation given by Gearbox Publishing is that they “want it to be clear that the game is on a solid foundation, funding-wise.” But GamesIndustry.biz says the game is already on a solid foundation. So why does Gearbox need the extra money? We aren’t sure.
Perhaps the entire thing is really just part of a publicity stunt to help build hype for the game’s release. Of course, GamesIndustry.biz reached out for further comment but, at least at the time of this writing, they had not received a response.
For those unfamiliar with the Homeworld series, the game follows a group of Kushan exiles through space after their home planet, Kharak, is destroyed by the alien Taiidan Empire. The reason? The Kushans developed hyperspace technology.
The exiles then journey to their actual homeworld, Hiigara, to attack the Taiidan and reclaim the ancient planet their ancestors originally came from. Along the way, the exiles run into pirates, traders, and enemies that they must defeat.
Homeworld, which originally came out in 1999, was unique in how it utilized real-time strategy gameplay in a completely 3-dimensional environment. And, more than this, the player’s fleet carries over after each new level, making the game also about long-term resource management and not merely beating individual levels.
But what drew in most fans was the amazing storyline. Homeworld is a sci-fi romp in an amazing universe that is completely unmatched by many of its predecessors. Homeworld 3 will not continue the saga 20 years after the original game first released, which is great news for everybody.
There is currently no release date for Homeworld 3. Gearbox has also not said what consoles the game will be released for, but we can be sure Homeworld 3 will probably be available for Windows PC at least.
