Five years feels like an impossibly long time in the tech world, especially in the ever changing world of video games. While big AAA titles may sit in development for years while studios perfect new engines or graphics, indie titles tend to release much faster in order to keep up with changing market demand.
Way back in August of 2012, David Murent posted an Indiegogo campaign for a game he wanted to develop called Starship Corporation. He quickly raised the 6,000 dollars he had been asking for and by the end of the campaign he had raised 20,000 dollars for development.
The game itself was an ambitious realtime strategy game where players would design ships and military bases, manage their crew and establish trade. This premise hit perfectly in 2012 and by October of 2013, a full year after the successful Indiegogo campaign, the game had been greenlit on Steam.
All was mostly quiet for a few years until Starship Corporation hit early access in 2016, where it remained until just a couple of days ago. Last month, Murent unveiled a new trailer and finally announced a May 3 full release of the game.
And as of today, five and a half years after the original funding, the game is fully available on Steam. Unfortunately the game received mixed reviews through early access, so it is hard to say if the years of effort will translate into a hit. But who knows how those reviews might change as people dig into the full game.
If nothing else, Murent can be incredibly proud of the fact that he followed through, despite what must have been quite a few road blocks along the way. Completing a game and releasing it to the public is a huge accomplishment at any stage, no matter how well it may do going forward. The fact that he did it alone makes it all the more impressive.
Take this as a lesson in following your dreams no matter how long it might take you to get there. We salute you David.