Renegade Kid launches Kickstarter for survival horror game Cult County

Dementium: The Ward, Moon and Mutant Mudds developer Renegade Kid has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its upcoming first-person survival horror game Cult County.

Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham explained in the Kickstarter video that the studio can't make Dementium 3 due to licensing agreements, so it's making Cult County instead. Consider it something of a spiritual successor then.

Cult County will be an episodic affair that focuses on loneliness and tension with "vulnerable and personalised melee and firearm combat" as you explore a haunted Texas Town and meet its twisted inhabitants.

You'll assume the role of a man named Gavin Mellick whose mother is dying. Upon arriving in Texas to inform his sister, he finds the town in the midst of a freak dust storm and mysterious, cultish figures keep appearing - and creepier yet, disappearing - out of the corner of his vision. Spooky!

Cult County is already on track for a May 2015 release on PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3, Vita, PC, Mac and Linux. It won't even have to go through Steam Greenlight as Valve has already approved it.

You may notice that 3DS is not part of that listing, which may seem odd as the game was originally announced as a 3DS title, but Renegade Kid explained that the game "has grown beyond the scope of the 3DS, and we do not want to compromise our vision" on its Kickstarter page. "We have chosen to utilize the Unity engine to craft the experience, which unfortunately does not support the 3DS."

The developer also noted that Xbox 360 isn't being supported yet as that would cost extra fees for Unity licensing - something Microsoft is footing the bill for on Xbox One. The Xbox 360 doesn't support self-publishing, so Renegade Kid would need to sort out an arrangement for an outside party there. It could still happen - and there's even a $640K stretch goal to make it so - but it can't be confirmed at this juncture.

Early adopters will be able to pre-order a Season Pass of Cult County (which will be comprised of five episodes in Season One) for $15, though after the first 1000 backers for this tier the price will increase to $20. $30 pledges come with a digital soundtrack, while $40 ones tack on a digital art book as well, and backers who give $60 will receive early beta access on PC.

The Cult County campaign only just launched at 6pm GMT, so it's only raised $7281 so far, but it has until 2nd May to make its minimum $580K goal.