Defense Grid 2 Kickstarter Launches Today

The developers of 2008′s Defense Grid: The Awakening are back in pog Kickstarter form, and have put together the most impressive gallery of gaming developer “celebrities” to convince you to fund the sequel.

Normally I’m a huge cynic about Kickstarter projects, but this one is interesting for a few reasons. First, the original Defense Grid was pretty goddamn good. Second, the testimonials from Hidden Path in the pitch video are refreshingly honest. According to Hidden Path CEO Jeff Probst, even though the game will likely be successful, it just can’t operate on the kind of profit margin that most publishers are interested in.

Unfortunately, they’re also up-front about the problem I have with most Kickstarters — they don’t share any numbers, projections, or budgeting information. In a perfect world, the profits from the first Defense Grid would fund a sequel, but apparently it didn’t, and we’re left wondering why.

Regardless, the funding campaign for the sequel has the ultimate goal of hitting a cool million, with several graduations along the way –

• $250,000 - Defense Grid: Containment, an expansion for Defense Grid 1, will be released
• $500,000 - Defense Grid: The Awakening will be remastered in a new engine, with co-op missions added
• $750,000 – A level editor will be released along with Mac and Linux support
• $1,000,000 – A full sequel, with 20 new missions with the new engine

There are multiple rewards for pledging money as well, which gets pretty damned complicated. The basic level of contribution ($15) will net you a free copy of the first game on Steam as well as any expansion content should it be developed. If you don’t already own the game, that’s a fantastic deal right there regardless of how nebulous Kickstarter can be. In addition there are prizes contributed by Razer and AMD to be given away through the promotion, though the details of those rewards aren’t available yet.

I’m not a fan of paying for nothing, but at least the rewards for contribution here are immediate and equitable. If you’re a fan of tower defense, check it out for that much at least.