Subverse is a new genre hybrid game in development by FOW Interactive. The game has just completed a very (very) successful Kickstarter campaign with the original Funding Goal of £100,000 being massively over-reached. A total of 58,730 funders amassed a huge £1,668,626 for the game.
The game is described as “a tactical RPG/SHMUP hybrid that takes place in a fully explorable galaxy where you get to be the Captain of your very own spaceship… which is crewed by the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit”.
In an (email) interview with PC Gamer, the studio’s creative director (who goes by the acronym DC, and is known as Darkcrow) explains why he thinks the game’s Kickstarter made so much money:
“I’m not sure I can pinpoint a single factor to be honest. I think we had a really positive and confident pitch that grabbed a lot of people by the balls and then our existing fanbase (which is pretty massive) came out in force to help snowball the Kickstarter. The surprise factor in all this was that Subverse became a kind of symbolic pledge for many first-time Kickstarter supporters who are unhappy with the current state of the gaming industry… but that’s totally not what we set out to do, we just wanted to make dick lasers and big bouncy anime titties.”
That “existing fanbase” is an interesting point, especially considering that Subverse will be FOW Interactive’s first game. The game development part of the studio has evolved out of StudioFOW - a collective notorious for creating some pretty graphic CG pornographic movies, many of which feature parodies of popular computer game characters.
In Lara in Trouble Lara Croft doesn’t evade her captors (as she does in the game it’s based on) but ends up being repeatedly gang-raped by them; in KUNOICHI, Dead or Alive’s Kasumi gets abducted and raped by demons; BioShag: Trinity is described “Three universes, three fantasies, one iconic heroine. See Elizabeth as you’ve never seen her before and embark on three sexy new adventures that span time and space, with unexpected outcomes.”
These productions are freely available on the StudioFOW website (and, from a cursory Google search, from a whole host of other places too.) And from what I can gather, are extremely popular with millions of views and downloads. And no I am not one of those, but if it works for you, who am I to judge?
(I have purposely not provided a link to StudioFOW’s website, but it is not difficult to find. Be warned though that it is MOST DEFINITELY NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK. There is no discreet front page, no attempt to warn site visitors of the content, no age verification.)
The Subverse Kickstarter FAQ makes no bones about catering the game to it’s existing market - that fanbase of earlier:
- Q: Can the game be played with one hand for obvious reasons?
A: The only time you’ll need two hands is for the SHMUP sections. - Q: Do you have to work for your sex, or is this one of those hentai stories where everyone is just hungry for the protag’s dick?
A: You have to work for the sex, old-school style! There’s no boosts or paywalls either so you better start leveling your waifus. - Q: Can you replay love scenes?
A: Yes! They can be viewed at your leisure inside the captain’s quarters.
FOW Interactive have also set up a Steam Store page for Subverse. It is marked Adults Only so you’ll have to have set your “Allow Adult Content” toggle to Yes in your Steam profile in order to see it.
There, the game is described as “A sexy new Sci-Fi parody where you command your own starship filled with the hottest babes in the universe! Explore a vast galaxy filled with wacky scumbags and ancient mysteries before unwinding in your quarters with your favorite alien waifus.” The Developer’s Description of the game begins with A female cyborg performs fellatio on a bald man who wears panties on his head. I’ll leave the rest for you to smirk, laugh, or cringe at at your leisure.
In an age of sexual equality and #metoo movements, it remains to be seen if FOW Interactive can master the game development skills needed to produce a technically sound game, with engaging and fun gameplay, and still produce a product that doesn’t get completely banned from every and any commercial games store.
Regardless of whether they do or not though, I have the feeling they’re not really going to care too much if Subverse lands up becoming an underground, “only available from our site” type game with a very niche cult following. I imagine a lot of their potential customers might even prefer it that way.
