Not only did Harebrained Schemes crush its $400,000 Shadowrun Returns Kickstarter campaign goal, raising over $1.8 million dollars as of last count, it has also released a torrent of new information for backers and interested players alike.
First, the company went forward and announced a June release date. Players can now pre-order the game , and the last chance to get the Shadowrun Returns Collector's Edition is Sunday, April 28th.
There's a ton of other information, so we're going to get through this bullet point style:
- Beginning today, backers will begin to receive emails from Harebrained Schemes LLC containing a link to the web site and password. If you haven't heard from them by Friday, April 12th, shoot them an email at info@hbs-studios.com to check in on your preorder.
- In order to get your rewards, backers must log in and fill in their information by Monday, April 22nd.
Rewards:
- Your DIGITAL rewards (the game, the editor, the wallpaper, special ability, the soundtrack, the short story anthology PDF, etc) will all be available on the Harebrained Account Website on launch day.
- Your PHYSICAL rewards (the t-shirts, the DocWagon cards, the hardcover short story anthology, the USB dog tags, the deluxe box edition (which contains a bunch of stuff), will ship about 3 weeks after launch day.
- People who pre-ordered the Shadowrun Returns Deluxe and Collector's Editions will get their digital and physical goodies in the same timeframe as above. Players will also be able to download their digital goodies from the Harebrained Account Website too.
- Early access to the Shadowrun Returns EDITOR will be available to eligible Backers at the end of April.
- Backers eligible to have their photo turned into an NPC or CUSTOM PC have already been contacted and work has already begun!
- Users will be able to download the game via Steam and backers will receive a Steam Key for the game as well as be able to contribute and browse community-created content using the Steam Workshop.
- German, French and Italian localizations will be available down the line.
DLC in Progress:
- Berlin Campaign (new campaigns also allow you to build with an expanded set of tiles).
- Map Packs (new terrain tiles and props for you to use in your own campaigns).
- All New Shadowrun Stories (created by HBS).
- Additional Outfits and Portraits for your character .
- Backers and Collector's Edition Pre-orders will receive the Berlin Campaign at no additional charge. Any DLC developed after launch will require payment.
Finally, if Steam's not your thing, a DRM-free version of the game will be available through the Harebrained Account Website that includes the Seattle and Berlin stories (the Berlin story following a one-time update). Since this version is removed from Steam integration, it will be unable to browse and play community-created stories from within the game. Any future DLC will only be available through Steam.
And...yeah, there's room for contention on the Steam front. Backers were promised a DRM-free title, and it sounds like Harebrained will fulfill most of this, but will make us wade into the Steam waters for future DLC, albeit we're still technically getting the same initial game, DRM-free, for the same price. The developers, despite their very best intentions, might want to spend a few caffeine-fueled nights sorting this one out in order to satisfy all parties.
There it is and it's a lot to digest, but the Shadowrun we've been hankering for is only two months away, and Harebrained Schemes has hurled some nice goodies in our direction to say thanks.
