Redmond, May 29, 2012:  Goblinworks, Inc. announced today that its Kickstarter project for the Pathfinder Online Technology Demo has raised more than $100,000 in pledges.  The Kickstarter began on May 9, with a funding goal of $50,000.  That goal was met in less than 24 hours.  The project reached $75,000 in less than a week.  The project still has two weeks remaining in its 30-day timeline.

The Pathfinder Online Technology Demo is a project to build a working prototype of Goblinworks’ fantasy sandbox massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMO), featuring a vertical slice of the game’s features: account creation, character creation, a fully 3D virtual environment with landscaping, terrain, and buildings, simultaneous multiple connected clients able to interact with each other and the virtual world, and elements of the game’s core mechanics.

The Technology Demo will be used by the company to show potential investors the capabilities of its team, test the middleware the company will use in the finished game, and show off the incredible graphic art style of the Pathfinder world.  It is scheduled to be completed 90 days after the close of the Kickstarter project.

Pathfinder Online is a fantasy sandbox MMO set in the River Kingdoms area of Golarion, the world of the Pathfinder intellectual property.  The game will feature a unique hybrid of sandbox-style play (open world, a complex player-driven economy, territorial control), and theme park-style sword & sorcery adventures.  Players will explore, adventure, develop & dominate a world filled with monsters, magic, strange gods and powerful artifacts.  The character’s actions will be persistent, the players will build kingdoms, and THEY will be the storytellers.

The Pathfinder intellectual property is developed by Paizo Publishing, LLC, and used under license by Goblinworks.  Other Pathfinder products include tabletop roleplaying games, comic books, and novels.  It is currently the best-selling tabletop RPG in North America.

“When we were deciding what to set as our funding goal, we thought we were being optimistic with $50,000,” said Ryan S. Dancey, CEO of Goblinworks. “ Doubling that figure in at the halfway mark of the project demonstrates the incredible support the community has for Pathfinder, and the market opportunity for a fantasy sandbox MMO.”

Kickstarter is a crowd funding system based at Kickstarter.com.  Projects are hosted on the site, and typically display an introductory video to explain the project, plus a blog-like series of updates used by the project to communicate with the Kickstarter community.  Sponsors can pledge anything from $1 to $10,000.  The project offers “rewards” at various pledge levels as an incentive to back the project.  If the project reaches its funding goal before the end of the time allocated the project receives all the money pledged.  If a project does not reach its funding goal before time expires, it receives nothing.

Of the more than 1,600 sponsors who have backed Goblinworks Pathfinder Online Technology Demo project, most have pledged $100 or less.  However, 10 sponsors have pledged $1,000 each, and 2 have pledged $5,000 each.

Goblinworks’ Pathfinder Online Technology Demo Kickstarter project can be accessed at this link:

http://kck.st/KG7bIW

About Goblinworks

Goblinworks is the developer and publisher of Pathfinder Online, a next-generation fantasy sandbox MMO. The company is located in the Seattle suburb of Redmond. It was founded in 2011 by a dedicated group of creative professionals with backgrounds in tabletop hobby gaming and online videogame development. Goblinworks is dedicated to creating a fun, immersive online gaming experience for the fantasy roleplaying enthusiast. Its goal is to deliver the best sword & sorcery massively multiplayer game on the market by starting with a carefully designed core of features and iterating on the content continuously after launch, with the input and feedback of the player community.

About Paizo Publishing
Paizo Publishing®, LLC is a leading publisher of fantasy roleplaying games, accessories, board games, and novels. Paizo's Pathfinder® Roleplaying Game, the result of the largest open playtest in the history of tabletop gaming, is currently the best-selling tabletop roleplaying game in hobby stores. Pathfinder Adventure Path is the most popular and best-selling monthly product in the tabletop RPG industry. Paizo.com is the leading online hobby retail store, offering tens of thousands of products from a variety of publishers to customers all over the world. In the nine years since its founding, Paizo Publishing has received more than 50 major awards and has grown to become one of the most influential companies in the hobby games industry.