page_title: Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse
section_title: Announcement, fundraising and release
hierarchical_section_title: Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse / Development / Announcement, fundraising and release
caption_attribution_description: English: Tony Warriner, a video game designer, design Beneath a Steel Sky. Français&#160;: Tony Warriner, notamment designer de Beneath a Steel Sky.
context_page_description: Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse is the fifth title in the Broken Sword series of adventure video games, developed and published by Revolution Software, for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation Vita, Android and iOS. The game was released in two episodes: the first was made available on 4 December 2013; the second was released on 17 April 2014 for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux. It was announced on 23 August 2012, along with a Kickstarter project; it was launched for the development of the game, which had been self-funded until the launch, to be completed. The game is presented in HD and returns to the series' 2D roots, with 3D characters pre-rendered and saved in 2D frames. The majority of the funding for the game was raised through Kickstarter, more than $771,000 of the requested $400,000 were raised, and together with PayPal donations, over $823,000.
context_section_description: After a few delays, Revolution announced Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse on 23 August 2012, starting a Kickstarter project with a $400,000 goal. Until then, the production of the game had been self-funded and $500,000 had been spent. Despite interest of the "industry's biggest third party publisher," Revolution preferred to self-publish the game, giving them creative freedom, which Cecil felt allowed them to make decisions that are best for the game. However, Cecil has also noted that he still plans to work with publishers in the future for retail releases. The game's Kickstarter goal was reached in the project's 13th day. It was successfully funded on 22 September 2012, raising $771,560 from 14,032 backers, and a total of $823,232 counting 1,218 PayPal backers who raised $51,672. 
  The game has been released for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, Android and PlayStation Vita, with a large possibility of a PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace release. Regarding Revolution's choice of platforms, Cecil said that the point-and-click interface of the PC platforms translated very well to the "slide-and-touch" user interface on mobile platform, but that the direct control interface on a console controller differs greatly from the former two interfaces. He noted though, that there he is still very keen to bring the game to consoles, but that it is not a certainty. Cecil has also noted that Revolution would have to publish the console versions through the format holders rather than self-publish. At the 2013 Gamescom, Revolution released a teaser trailer for The Serpent's Curse and announced a PlayStation Vita release.
  Cecil stated that the game is expected to be released "in the first quarter, or right at the very beginning of the second quarter of next year [2013], so probably, end of March." 
  In a GameSpot UK podcast on 31 October 2012, Cecil stated that the game was expected to be delayed "for a month or two" because of the achieved stretch goals that increased the development time due to the promised additional content.
  After further delays, Revolution announced on 5 November that the game will be released as a two-part episodic title, with the first episode coming on 4 December 2013, and the second one in Q1 2014. Initial releases would be for desktop platforms, and other releases would follow shortly after. Cecil explained that the game became much larger than they had anticipated, with enough content for two full-fledged games. This meant that the title would not be fully completed by the end of 2013, but Revolution had promised a 2013 release, and so came the decision to split the game in two. Cecil also added that sometimes games are too long, and players don't find time to finish it, and saw that a split would also benefit in this field. He compared the length of a single episode to that of The Smoking Mirror.
  On 29 November, backers of the $50 tier or more were given exclusive beta access, featuring the first three scenes from episode 1. Both episodes bundled together were made available for pre-order, on 27 November 2013 on Good Old Games, and on 28 November on Steam. Episode one was released on 4 December for PC on the same services (episode 2 would be added to the game as an update for the same purchase). The first episode was also released for the Vita on 18 December, bought either separately or with the second episode, and for iOS on 6 February and on for Android on 18 March. On iOS and Android, episode 2 would be released as an in-app purchase.
caption: Revolution co-founder Tony Warriner, one of four Serpent's Curse programmers
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