Investment Overview
One page covering what exists, what comes next, how long production takes, how capital is used, and what the current break-even model requires.
Development began October 2025 · Active playable prototype · 18-month funded release plan
Since Oct 2025
Development history
Playable
Early development build
$200K
Recommended four-month tranche
18 months
Funded release-readiness plan
What Is Already Built
Substantial technical and visual work already exists. The next capital milestone integrates and polishes it rather than starting from zero.
2.5D traversal with run, jump, dash, wall movement, depth lanes, and moving platforms
Melee combat foundation, health and damage, ground and flying enemy prototypes
Branching dialogue, response choices, persisted state, and NPC triggers
Single and multi-stage quests with combat, collection, and location objectives
Inventory, equipment, consumables, quest items, currency, shop, chests, and keys
Save slots, checkpoints, autosave, scene transitions, respawn, and partial world persistence
Interactive hazards, destructibles, environmental systems, HUD, menus, audio, and cutscene framework
Early sewer, city district, forest/river, Mexican desert, and night-visual studies
Four Capital Paths
Each case has a different job. The $60K and $200K cases fund proof; the $700K and $1.2M cases fund release production.
| Case | Amount | Period | Funded outcome | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo / proof package | $60K | 3-4 months | One polished representative sequence | Demo-level proof |
| Milestone tranche | $200K | 4 months | Stronger vertical slice, team capacity, investor evidence | Recommended near-term |
| Lean production | $700K | 18 months | PC-first full release with constrained breadth | Alternative full plan |
| Full production | $1.2M | 18 months | Preferred scope, full marketing, release support, reserve | Preferred full plan |
Demo and Four-Month Milestone
Working allocations for discussion. Final vendor quotes, contracts, timing, and acceptance criteria remain required.
$60K demo case
3-4 months$200K milestone
4 monthsDevelopment Timeline
An 18-month path from the current working foundation to release readiness.
| Period | Milestone | Primary output |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 to Jul 2026 | Foundation built | Playable prototype, early locations, traversal, combat foundation, dialogue, quests, inventory, saves, world-state, interface, hazards, and environment pipeline. |
| Months 1-3 after funding | Scope lock & production reset | Priority hires and freelancers, pipeline hardening, representative route, combat and animation target. |
| Months 4-6 | Investor-ready vertical slice | Integrated traversal, encounter, dialogue or quest, save flow, atmosphere, and polished capture. |
| Months 7-11 | Full production | Locations, characters, enemies, quests, encounters, animation, art, music, and supporting systems. |
| Months 12-14 | Alpha / feature complete | Full-game integration, performance work, structured QA, progression and content validation. |
| Months 15-16 | Beta / content lock | Balancing, localization, accessibility, release QA, and port-readiness work. |
| Months 17-18 | Release readiness | Certification preparation, launch assets, final fixes, and platform rollout operations. |
Unit Economics and Break-even
Planning scenarios, not sales forecasts or guaranteed returns.
| Metric | Modeled value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Working list price | $39.99 | Subject to market and platform validation |
| Base modeled studio receipts | $17.72 / copy | Before fixed costs, corporate tax, financing, and publisher waterfall |
| Lean break-even | 39.5K copies | $700K case, base receipts, no publisher share |
| Lean + illustrative partner share | 49.4K copies | Assumes illustrative 20% commercial partner share |
| Full break-even | 67.7K copies | $1.2M case, base receipts, no publisher share |
| Full + illustrative partner share | 84.7K copies | Assumes illustrative 20% commercial partner share |
The base receipts model includes assumed price realization, refunds, indirect taxes, a 30% planning store fee, and other variable costs. It excludes fixed project costs, corporate tax, financing costs, recoupment, advances, and negotiated publisher waterfalls.
$200K for a four-month milestone
This case is currently the clearest balance between meaningful production progress and controlled investor risk. It funds a stronger vertical slice, representative combat and animation, priority specialist capacity, and better evidence for a larger publishing or financing decision.
- Current build video and approved screenshots
- Office and production-process photography
- Freelancer and specialist quotes
- Legal entity, IP assignments, and cap table
- Final ask, minimum close, and milestone acceptance criteria
Next step