Xbox One, PS4 medieval RPG promises to blend Skyrim, Witcher, and Red Dead

After traveling the world in pursuit of a publishing deal, Mafia designer Daniel Vavra and his new company Warhorse Studios have launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new medieval RPG called Kingdom Come: Deliverance. They are asking for £300,000 to complete the CryEngine-powered project, aiming to launch in 2015 for PC, Linux, Xbox One, and PS4. The campaign is off to a quick start, with over £36,000 pledged so far from more than 1,000 backers.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is described as a "realistic" and open-world first-person single-player RPG with period accurate melee combat. Perhaps most notably, the game does not feature magic, fantasy elements, or any other mythical overtones like so many medieval RPGs do. It's "Dungeons & no Dragons," Vavra says.

"We’re mixing the freedom and mechanics of Skyrim, the setting of Mount and Blade, the storytelling styles of The Witcher and Red Dead Redemption, and the tough combat dynamics of Dark Souls into a single, gorgeous package," Vavra says.

Vavra also likened Kingdom Come: Deliverance to the Mel Gibson movie Braveheart. "Think of it as Braveheart: The Game. Majestic castles, armored knights, large, open field battles, and political intrigue set in a vast, emergent world," he said.

The story of Kingdom Come: Deliverance follows a young blacksmith in 1403 who "loses everything to war." As he attempts to fulfill his father's dying wishes, he is dragged back into a deep conspiracy to save a kidnapped king and stop a terrible conflict. The game will have you exploring the world, taking on a number of roles, including knight, rogue, and bard.

One-one-one skirmishes as well as "large-scale" battles are also going to be featured in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. In all, the game boasts approximately 30 hours of gameplay for Act 1 and 70+ hours for all three acts.

For a game with such large ambitions, you might be surprised to learn that Warhorse Studios has just 30 people on staff. It took the company 18 months to create the images and video released so far for Kingdom Come: Deliverance. An unnamed private investor has funded the studio so far to the tune of over $1.5 million.

As Vavra outlines on the Kickstarter page, this investor is "strong and capable," but doesn't follow the game business very closely, needing proof that gamers do indeed want a medieval RPG like Kingdom Come: Deliverance. That's where you (hopefully for Vavra) come in. If the Kickstarter campaign is successful, he says, the investor will be more enthusiastic about providing additional funding. If it's not, Warhorse will have to move on to something new.

"Should our Kickstarter campaign fail, it will mean that we were wrong, that there is no interest to play a game with the atmosphere of Braveheart, and that we will have to start considering working on some mobile MMO, because that's where the money is these days (or so everybody tells us)," Vavra said. "We are, however, positive that our instincts are right."

Notably, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is not yet approved for Xbox One or PS4, meaning it may never release on those platforms or the approval process may delay the date beyond 2015. For more on Kingdom: Come Deliverance, check out the game's Kickstarter page and our recent preview.