Want a new Oddworld game? New 'n' Tasty needs to sell 500,000 first

Oddworld series creator Lorne Lanning has said that development on a brand new Oddworld title can begin if Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty shifts 500,000 copies.

New 'n' Tasty is a remake of 1997's PSOne classic Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, a rock-hard 2D adventure with a great setting, and a heavy emphasis on fascinating puzzles. The game spawned a direct sequel, Abe's Exoddus, and its universe was also the home of Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee and Stranger's Wrath.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Lanning said that a new title, the once-cancelled Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot, could be put into development if he secures $5 million. "I don't think [Fangus Klot is] anything less than a $5 million title," he said.

What about Kickster, then? "To Kickstart it I think would be a little deceptive and a risk. But if we sell half a million copies [of New 'n' Tasty], that's not going to be a problem."

"People keep asking me, 'Why don't you Kickstart Oddworld? You could get at least $1 or $2 million.' And I'm like 'What would I do with a couple million on Kickstarter on a new Oddworld title?' Not much. I could redo Exoddus for a couple million. I could do that. But a new title, which means new characters doing new things and controls that are great - that's where the real time and expenses come from."

"If you already have the game and you're just doing a conversion, it's easier," he noted. "From scratch, I don't think we could do an Oddworld title for a couple million dollars."

Following New 'n' Tasty, Lanning plans to create a new version of Abe's Exoddus if 250,000 are sold.

Abe's Oddysee revolves around Abe, a Mudokon slave attempting to escape the RuptureFarms meat factory after discovering that his species is next in line to be butchered and turned into its latest food product.

Lanning has previously spoken about the need for New 'n' Tasty to sell well enough to fund a new Oddworld. "If we have the success of New 'n' Tasty," he said last year in an interview with Joystiq discussing his future projects, "let's say if we can do a million units of New 'n' Tasty--I don't know if that's completely unrealistic or not because we don't have advertising money, we don't have a big publisher pushing it."

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty is expected to be released for PC, Wii U, and PS4 sometime in 2014.