Hundreds of people have pitched in to reserve their spot for an upcoming video game developed by Las Cruces-based Ganymede Games.
The company's video game is described as a role-playing video game called Xenotheria where "surviving an apocalyptic event is the easy part." A total of 632 people have put in early orders, according to a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Contributors could pledge $20 or more for a digital copy, which is expected to arrive in November 2023.
The crowdfunding campaign originally set out to raise $25,000 but, as of Dec. 29, had raised $29,035. Ganymede previously conducted a survey of 7,500 people who play video games to help shape the creative process of the new game.
Initially, the game will be released on PC, but eventually, Ganymede plans to get Xenotheria on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and other mobile platforms. Early backers may also get access to a beta version of the video game, which was anticipated to be rolled out in the second quarter of 2022.
Back in 2019, Ganymede announced it had raised $550,000 in seed funding with investment from New Mexico Angels and the Arrowhead Innovation Fund at New Mexico State University. Abenteuer Ventures in California also contributed, according to the company.
Before that, also in 2019, company officials joined Alicia J. Keyes, cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Economic Development Department, to announce Ganymede's decision to establish its headquarters in Las Cruces, representing a more than $1.3 million investment and the creation of up to 51 jobs throughout five years.
The state committed to investing up to $250,000 in Local Economic Development Act incentives, while the city of Las Cruces committed up to $100,000 in LEDA dollars for the company's expansion in Downtown Las Cruces. But those expansion plans were halted due to the Covid-related concerns about working in an office, Ganymede CEO Jerry Prochazka previously told Business First.
A representative for the company was unable to be reached for this article.
