All Articles: Pillars of Eternity

After raising nearly $4 million on Kickstarter (and a further $500,000 in additional crowdfunding), Obsidian Entertainment is finally ready to release Pillars of Eternity. A “classic RPG” in the style of Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment, Pillars of Eternity has been a labor of love for the team at Obsidian.

“Moments like these feel surreal when they finally arrive,” said Feargus Urquhart, the CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. “Today is the culmination of two years’ hard work, but there’s even more to it than the usual game release day. Given where we were when we started on Pillars of Eternity, this is the start of a new chapter in the story of Obsidian. We’ll be forever grateful to all of our fans and backers for making this moment possible, and truly hope that we have lived up to the faith you placed in us.”

To further celebrate the launch of Pillars of Eternity, Obsidian has released a pretty great launch day trailer, which has been embedded above. And if you haven’t picked up Pillars of Eternity yet, you might want to know that it’s available in three versions: the Hero Edition ($44.99), the Champion Edition ($59.99), and the Royal Edition ($89.99).

Obsidian Entertainment and Paradox Interactive have announced that Obsidian’s retro-styled RPG, Pillars of Eternity, has been delayed once again. In the aftermath of the game’s highly successful Kickstarter campaign, Obsidian announced that the game would launch in Spring 2014. However, a delay earlier this year pushed the game back to “late 2014.” Now, a second delay has moved Pillars of Eternity’s release into early 2015.

A statement from Obsidian and Paradox confirmed that the delay was due to a desire to address fan feedback received during the recent beta test. The developer believes these changes are necessary to “ensure fans absolutely get the best game possible”

“Since the very beginning of this project we promised our fans and ourselves that we would release this game only when we knew it would be absolutely ready for the best experience possible,” said Feargus Urquhart, the CEO of Obsidian. “We’re very close to that point, but not quite there yet. The feedback we have received through our playtest process has been invaluable to us. We are coming into the home stretch but are pushing the release out just a bit to make sure we honor that promise we made originally. Thanks for your patience and support, it will be worth the wait.”

Pillars of Eternity will be released in early 2015 exclusively for the PC.

Pillars of Eternity, the well-funded Kickstarter project by Obsidian Entertainment, has had a few hiccups along the way. Their Kickstarter campaign originally predicted the game would launch in April 2014, but their most recent development update says otherwise:

“However, before we get to the art, we wanted to officially update everyone that we are looking good to release Eternity by Winter 2014. So, look forward to getting your hands on Pillars of Eternity later this year,” wrote Rose Gomez, the newest producer on the game.

Pillars of Eternity – originally just Project Eternity – hasn’t had a Spring 2014 date for some time. Eurogamer spoke to project lead Josh Sawyer last May, and even then, he hinted at a Winter 2014 release.

But no, according to project lead Josh Sawyer, who spoke to me recently, “It’s not going to be in spring.” What about summer? Probably not.

Is it realistic, then, for people not to expect Pillars of Eternity in the first half of 2014? “Yeah,” he answered. “It’s going to come later.”

And then he explained: “We foresaw needing a bit more time when the Kickstarter ended. It’s understandable that people don’t know this but when you start a Kickstarter, once it goes live, you can’t change that [estimated release] date. You’re not allowed to change to that date.

In 2014, we’re no strangers to delayed Kickstarters, though I’m sure there are more than a few disappointed people out there. Keep yourself occupied with your backlog until Winter 2014 comes around when you can get your hands on Pillars of Eternity.

Project Eternity, the Kickstarter for a new RPG by Obsidian Entertainment, still has a few hours left, but it’s already broken records with a total (as of this writing) of $3,753,196 [Update: The final tally was $3,986,929]. It has already beaten out the previous record holder, Double Fine Entertainment’s Double Fine Adventure, which ended at $3,335,265.

Obsidian is responsible for many groundbreaking games, including the Baldur’s Gate series, the Icewind Dale series, Planescape: Torment, Fallout, and Fallout 2. Project Eternity is a fantasy-based isometric RPG that will be available for Linux, Mac, and PC. You still have some time to get in on the Kickstarter, which will, at the very least, net you a copy of the game at a much lower price than what retail will be when the game releases in April 2014.

Just $25 will get you a “Digital Downloadable Copy of Project Eternity. This price is only available for those who help fund before the game is released! All Kickstarter backers will receive a special Kickstarter only in-game achievement and item. (The item will not affect the game’s balance). Includes Cooking with Tim – An RPG-themed e-Cookbook, and Making of Project Eternity Documentary (streaming).”

A cookbook? Count me in.