Latest trailer showed some basic gameplay (units moving, no combat yet), has definite homeworld vibe, but I came close to giving up on it when they asked for $100 for people to join the beta. They had, iirc, 10,000 open slots for that... 400? of which have been filled. Because asking for a hundred fucking dollars when you don't even have gameplay out yet is freaking derp.
I'll be watching this from a good, safe distance. Hopefully it will live up to expectaction.
Maybe they are attempting to emulate Star Citizen's crowdsourced funding?
Star Citizen, when they first asked for money, had:
- tiered funding starting at under $20, with interesting rewards for more money
- LOTS of video of progress already made, ships flying around, etc
- LOTS of info about what the game was actually going to be
- Chris Roberts
Shipbreakers, when they first asked for money, had:
- Artwork
- A small portion of the original Homeworld team (which IIRC doesn't include the writer)
In short, Star Citizen did everything right. They pretty much set the new standard for crowdfunding games. Shipbreakers asking for so much money just to sell you some fluff, and so much more money just to get into the beta, looks like they just threw something together to try and raise some quick cash, rather than putting in the time and effort for a proper crowdfunding campaign. Thankfully, it has failed. I don't want developers thinking that gamers are ready to shell out $100 to be beta testers.
I certainly hope that they live up to the hype generated by merely mentioning Homeworld. But what they have now leaves me asking "Where's the beef?"