In 2022, a new supergroup of JRPG veterans called WILD BUNCH Productions launched a dual Kickstarter to create successors for two dormant series. Armed Fantasia, a fantasy western in the vein of Wild Arms, and the gothic Penny Blood, following up on Shadow Hearts. Despite successfully crowdfunding more than two million dollars at the time, resources stretched thin quickly, prompting the team to seek out a publisher. Now it seems like it’s the end of the road for Armed Fantasia, as a financial statement suggests the game has been “discontinued.”
As spotted by Automaton Media, an investor document from 505 Games parent company Digital Bros confirms that they were the silent partner for Armed Fantasia. It also confirms that they aren’t anymore. The statement suggests that the game has ceased development, and that “the decisions followed a thorough review of the potential of each product in consideration of changing market conditions and the additional investment required.”
While signs of life on both games have been sporadic, a post from producer Akifumi Kaneko last March confirmed the team had sent a build to an unnamed publisher. Kaneko also said that while the lack of information was frustrating, they were now contractually regulated by the publisher, who had “been supporting the project’s development up to this point.” While the initial 2022 campaign blew past its initial goal, the team had been open about how little two million goes split between multiple projects, that the money raised was to develop demos to secure more conventional funding. While crowdfunding can help cult developers back on their feet, it more frequently becomes another headache in an already troubled publishing environment. Through the summer, Shibuya Scramble‘s developers have been fighting the crowdfunding platform itself for somehow losing their money.
The same statement from Digital Bros reveals they’re also dropping the action RPG The Directorate: Novitiate and a follow-up to 505’s decade old WW2 free-to-play Battle Island. If the wording is accurate, it seems Armed Fantasia will be hanging up its spurs for the foreseeable future. It also leaves the fate of Penny Blood unknown as well, as of the two projects Fantasia appeared much further along, not to mention suffering publisher complications of its own.
