Scope and Team

Targeted platforms

-PC
-Mac
-Playstation 5
-Xbox Series X
  Joel Notes: At present, these are the only game systems capable of rendering the graphics needed, and of storing the massive file size that will be generated by the game engine.  

Monetization model

(Brief)
Premium game, one-time purchase.
Sell complete game for $60.
50% discount to churches. (There are approximately 350,000 churches in the US alone)
Joel Notes: This will be a tight-budget AAA game and will be valued and sold as such. Given the goal of the project, it is desired for the game to be played in youth groups, where minds teetering at the edge of straying from the path but ripe for positive influence will engage.  

Project Scope

APPROXIMATE FINAL TARGET USD $20M

Realistic minimum to make the final game. Volunteer involvement can reduce the actual monetary outlay, but this will be the value of the necessary effort.  

THE PROJECT WILL OCCUR IN THREE STAGES

Concept development
A small core team working part-time team builds out the game design, conceptual graphics, and enough in-game content to fuel a Kickstarter campaign and attract more team members.
Investment needed: Equity share with core team members. $2,000-$10,000 for tools and digital assets.
Target time frame: 6-9 months
Joel Notes: By developing an initial, briefable concept that is well supported by final-game example assets, the maximum amount of momentum and team growth can be achieved with the minimum amount of skill and effort. Examples will be an order of magnitude easier to make than a prototype and yield a very effective stepping stone to the next level.   Kickstarter development
The core team works full-time, with the assistance of unpaid part-time volunteers to create an Alpha prototype, with enough promotable content, cinematics, and playable game features to fuel a Steam Early Access community.
Investment needed: $200,000 - $2,00,000 Kickstarter fund.
Target time frame: 9-12 months.
Joel Notes: While full funding from stage one is possible, it is far more likely an intermediate step to continue to build the team, the prototype, and a community of interest will be necessary. The Kickstarter will provide the means to devote full-time attention and produce functional prototypes of several key aspects of the game, fully demonstrating the expected visual style and detail, gameplay mechanics, and story mode of the final game.   Full development.
Funded by either a robust community of Early Access interest or investor support, a quickly-growing team begins full development of the final game.
Investment needed: $20,000,000+ from early access sales and investors.
Target time frame: 36-48 months.
Joel Notes: In many major game studios, this timeline is standard. Feature creep, scope bloat, and inefficiency all must be battled to stay under this budget and timeline, but it is reasonable for the project.   Total anticipated timeline: 51-69 months.
  Joel Notes: I believe we have about a 10-year window, possibly less, before the master switch is closed on major game platforms. We likely need to release at least the first game in the series to launch the franchise enough to endure. If we can get the first release done in under six years, we can very likely release two follow-on expansions or sequels within the 10-year time frame, reusing the same underlying code and assets to create a modern times and near-future equivalent. We can also reuse much of the same assets and use virtual production to shoot a movie the same way Mandalorian was done (which is getting cheaper and easier by the year) and will have an immediate audience to market it to. It all relies on building up quickly and releasing the best game possible within this 10-year window.   Kickstarter reference numbers (Top Kickstarter: $12,969,608 pledged of $500,000 goal for FrostHaven board game adaptation.)  

Expected Team Size

(Through Kickstarter development)   Core Team
Executive Producer—Full Project (GY)   Creative Lead/Designer—Full project (Joel)   Technical Lead/ Coder—Full project (Joel, until replacement found.)   Art Lead—Full project (GY, until replacement found.)   Coder—Part of the project (Joel, until replacement found.)   Concept Artist—Part of the project (GY, until replacement found.)   Character Artist—Part of the project (GY, until replacement found.)   Environment Artist—Part of the project (Joel, until replacement found.)   Animation Lead—Part of the project (Joel, until replacement found.)   Sound Designer—Part of the project (GY, until replacement found.)   Contracted/Part-time
Sound Engineer.
Voice Over (Including conlang).
Music.
Testing.   Marketing
Oscar Strachan is the Marketing Manager of CMDR Publishing and will guide the marketing strategy. Oscar will be devoted to marketing and audience-building throughout the project and will lead the effort in late stages with the help of a marketing team.   Joel Notes:
Activities can, and should begin with two team members, as the easiest way to learn exactly what needs to happen, recruit additional team members, and attract funding will be to be actively creating the initial concept. Early recruitment targets should be in the area of most immediately critical skills, especially any we are not keen to learn and take on in an interim capacity.
  Assignments are based on our demonstrated skills and interest to date, as well as the need to acquire knowledge about every major aspect of the project in advance of bringing on team members to carry out those tasks.