by: Jenna Redding
Y Press Games owner Yamila Abraham posted a frank update to her ongoing Kickstarter stating that the Oni Onsen game will most likely be cancelled due to lack of funding.
Oni Onsen is Y Press Games’ most ambitious game to date. A gorgeous visual novel set in feudal Japan, where samurai Asano tries to get his onsen back from his corrupt master, but finds it is now haunted by four frisky and attractive oni.
The art in the game is some of the best Y Press has produced to date, and the demo game presented an introduction that was at times laugh-out-loud funny, yet also engrossing, poignant, and sweet. (It’s really worth a play if you haven’t already, you can grab it here.)
Abraham said in her update, “Before now, I was asking for less than what is needed to make our games. I placed hitting the Kickstarter goal above getting what we actually needed, and I also hoped that we would manage to get enough extra funding beyond the goal.
“Unfortunately, we never get enough extra funding beyond the goal to pay for the full development costs. So, for Oni Onsen I took a risk. I asked for what we actually needed.
“I asked for we needed to pay the full-time artist a living wage for over a year, what we needed to pay or the programming costs, the backgrounds, the asset costs, the music building sets, and the sounds.”
The full update detailing the financial reality the company is dealing with can be found here. Without funding from the Kickstarter, Abraham said she will cancel the game rather than try again, as running a Kickstarter twice resulted in a failed game (their game Hardcore Cruising) the last time she attempted that.
It’s truly do or die for this gorgeous and beautifully written game. We’re asking our readers to step up if they’re able. Please support the Kickstarter in these final days so they can reach their goal. If you’re unable to afford this, you can also help by spreading the word. Here is a tweet you could retweet to help out HERE
