The developers of Hazelnut Bastille only asked for $65,000 to get their take on the classic 16-bit adventure made. The project received $177,713 in funding from nearly 5,000 backers who want to see the game created. That’s not too surprising–Aloft Studio ran one of the most transparent Kickstarter campaigns–probably since the platform’s inception.
The campaign launched with a demo to give potential backers a taste of the game, with a detailed prospectus showing how backer funds will be spent.
Hazelnut Bastille Kickstarter Update #22
In the #22 Kickstarter update for the game, Aloft Studios shared some interesting information regarding Switch development. The backer survey asking which platform (PC, PS4, Switch) backers would like to play the game on is at 93% reporting. The percentage of users requesting Switch copies of the game is at 90%, far higher than the devs expected.
Aloft Studios says they knew the Switch community would be most interested in the game, but they didn’t expect 90% of those numbers. Armed with that knowledge, the developers are now changing how they think about developing the game. Previously, Aloft thought of Hazelnut Bastille as a PC game that would be ported to consoles. Now they are approaching it as a Nintendo Switch game with a PC release and PS4 port.
Some things are the same either way- we are still using the same Unity build, and all the builds are going back to a parent build, but it is a shift in how we think about things.
Aloft Studios, Hazelnut Bastille – Kickstarter Update #22
Switch Devkit Approved
The developers also confirmed they finally got access to Switch devkits after a successful presentation of the game to Nintendo. The thoroughly detailed presentation included things like:
- Demographic targets and studies
- Relationship of the work with Nintendo’s design and content philosphy
- Major selling points of the game
- Game mechanics and the player experience
- Quirks of implementation on the Switch
- Finance and budgeting for the title
- Marketing techniques and projections
- Past games press and influencer coverage
In total, the report came to 40 pages of text and 50 pages of media. Nintendo liked the presentation and approved Aloft Studios to have access to Switch development tools and materials, including devkits. With Nintendo being so tight-lipped about the development process for the Switch this portion of the update is intentionally vague. Aloft has confirmed there is a deep NDA involved.
Still, it’s exciting to see that Switch will become the main focus for Hazelnut Bastille going forward.
