Inafune back on Kickstarter with Mega Man Legends successor

Introducing sci-fi shooter Red Ash

Keiji Inafune and Comcept have wrapped development on Mighty No. 9 and are now returning to Kickstarter to fund their next project, Red Ash, a spiritual successor to Mega Man Legends.

Announced today at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, the two-headed project is looking to raise $800,000 to produce the game’s first chapter, called “The KalKanon Incident,” while a second campaign helmed by Studio 4℃ is asking for at least $150,000 to support an animated film based on the same world and characters.

Comcept raised more than $4 million between Kickstarter and PayPal for Mighty No. 9, blowing its initial $900,000 funding goal out of the water.

In terms of what to expect out of the game itself, Comcept says the title will be a action adventure game with third person shooter and RPG elements. Windows PC is the only platform announced.

Funnily enough, Red Ash “inherited some of the DNA” from Mighty No. 9, with the development team deciding to once again name the protagonists Beck and Call.

While both Comcept and Studio 4℃ will be working with these characters, the game and anime are being considered independent projects, so the developers have “full creative freedom.”

The staff attached to the video game features a number of key members of the Mega Man Legends team, including art director Kazushi Ito, director Masahiro Yasuma, artist Miki Kijima, UI designer Yukiko Kawanabe, and famed Mega Man series composer Manami Matsumae.

The animation’s $150,000 goal will help fund a five-minute episode. Should the campaign hit additional stretch goals, Studio 4℃ promises a longer film. The company asserts it will require at least $2,480,000 in funding to produce a feature-length Red Ash film.

Comcept asserts “the primary goal with Red Ash is to tell a story on a grand scale” and the Kickstarters are being used to provide a “small, but dense taste of the Red Ash universe as a foundation on which to build future content.”

Inafune isn’t content to merely create one-off projects, it seems. The man is franchise building.

Red Ash – The Indelible Legend [Kickstarter, Red Ash – Magicicada]