Wild West Online No Longer Needs Kickstarter Funding, Launching This Year

Following Wild West Online generated quite a bit of buzz. It generated so much buzz, in fact, that developer 612 Games will no longer need to run the Kickstarter that was planned for this month, as the game's original investors have given the company enough funding to launch the game in full later this year with a buy-to-play business model.

But what exactly does that mean for Wild West Online, you ask? You may recall that the stretch goals that the company had planned for playable female characters and train robberies were fairly high compared to the planned initial goal of $250,000. It is noted that the game will be launching with female characters, "rich role-playing and social activities such as card games," and at least one localization. While there will be no PvP combat, according to PCGamer's interview DJ2 Entertainment last week, the press release also notes that there will be "PvE game missions" and treasure hunts, in addition to other content.

In addition to skipping the Kickstarter campaign, 612 Games will also be skipping Early Access. An Alpha and Closed Beta will take place this summer in lieu of an Early Access release.

612 Games Chief Creative Officer Stephan Bugaj had the following to say about the announcement.

The community’s response to Wild West Online is something we never imagined and thanks to it we’re able to fully develop a robust Western experience for PC. We’ve been fortunate enough to have our initial investors step up and provide additional funding to make the game we wanted, without having to raise money via crowdfunding. Westerns are lacking on PC so we can’t wait to release the game to the public.

For more information about Wild West Online, or to sign up for the Alpha and Closed Beta tests, head to the official website.