Cancelled Kickstarter studio back with new STALKER game

Do you remember the spectacular failure of the Kickstarter for Areal from earlier this year? West Games, a studio purportedly made up of former S.T.A.L.K.E.R. devs, hit Kickstarter looking for $50k so they could make their new post-apocalyptic shooter.

It was a troubled campaign that ultimately got pulled from the crowd-funding site despite having passed its funding target because of a variety of irregularities. Well, not ones to take rejection lying down, West Games are back, and this time they're asking for a whole lot more.

The studio are, this time, on World Wide Funder and they're asking for $600k for their next project (a much larger, but ultimately more realistic total given the game they're pitching - one of our main concerns regarding Areal was that they clearly weren't asking for enough).

However, eyebrows will raise when you hear the name of the next game, as it's very close to something we've heard before. The studio has trademarked the title STALKER Apocalypse, which is dangerously close, seven full stops close, to being a trademark violation.

This is what the team says in the Q&A regarding the title: "We have registered a trademark for Stalker Apocalypse, and have every right to use it as our title. Stalker by itself is a common word, and anyone can use it."

We're not convinced that it's going to be that easy (and neither is this interesting blog over at GamerLaw), and our biggest worry regarding this new project is that much of the $600k they're asking for may well be spent on legal costs as they battle to keep their ridiculously risky name.

Of course, that might just be us being overly cynical. The game might get funded, it might get made as described with title and all, and it might even be brilliant. We just don't know. If it does get made it'll be in beta around the end of next year, and listed platforms include PC, PS4 and Xbox One (and there's mention of Oculus Rift support too).

Thanks, PCGamer.