Skullgirls team launches crowdfunding campaign and playable prototype for new RPG

Lab Zero Games, the developer behind fighting game Skullgirls, launched a new crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo today for its next game, Indivisible, a Super Metroid and Valkyrie Profile-inspired role-playing game. In tandem with the campaign's launch, Lab Zero also released the game's playable prototype, which can be downloaded for free.

Indivisible is in development for Linux, Mac, PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One, according to the campaign. Lab Zero is seeking $1.5 million in crowdfunding to develop Indivisible and, as previously announced, is working with publisher 505 Games to co-finance the game.

Lab Zero describes Indivisible as a platformer-RPG hybrid based on southeast Asian and other world mythologies. The game stars Ajna, a "good-natured tomboy with a rebellious streak" who goes "on a globe-spanning journey to discover the truth behind her mysterious powers. On her quest she'll be joined by a variety of unique heroes and gain new abilities to traverse the environments and defeat the enemies they'll encounter along the way."

Like Skullgirls, Indivisible will feature traditional 2D animation, some of which you can see in a new trailer below. Lab Zero is collaborating with Secret of Mana composer Hiroki Kikuta on the game's soundtrack.

On the game's Indiegogo campaign, Lab Zero breaks down the game's budget and why it's seeking $1.5 million.

The total budget for Indivisible is $3,500,000.

If we raise our goal of $1,500,000 or more, 505 Games will provide the remaining $2,000,000 we need to complete the game. So, effectively, up to the initial goal your contribution is worth more than double.

And the more we raise beyond the initial goal, the better the game gets and the better the publishing arrangement with 505 gets for Lab Zero.

To be clear, this is not a campaign to "gauge interest" — Indivisible's budget represents a more equitable funding split, where your support directly influences not only the game, but also the post-release benefits Lab Zero receives.

Indivisible's playable prototype alone cost about $250,000 to create, Lab Zero said.

"We felt that in order to justify asking for so much money, we had to do more than just present an idea for the game, and give players something they could actually touch and enjoy," the developer said. "In addition to making an abstract game idea more concrete for backers, it helped us figure out some important parts of our development pipeline before asking for your money."

Players interested in Indivisible can download the prototype for free — currently for Windows PC only — from the game's official website.

More information on the game's development, future stretch goals and gameplay details are available at Indivisible's Indiegogo campaign, which runs for the next 40 days.

Lab Zero previously used Indiegogo to fund continued development of Skullgirls. In 2013, Lab Zero turned to the crowdfunding platform to raise $150,000 to add a new character to the game, and ultimately brought in more than $820,000 to finance additional characters, stages and voice packs.

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