The 1979 film “Apocalypse Now” is getting the video game treatment, but the people behind the adaptation really need financial help to realize the project. Surprisingly, the Kickstarter project for first-person perspective survival and horror RPG was canceled this Tuesday. Game director Montgomery Markland of Erebus LLC — the studio working on the game alongside film director Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope — broke the news on the Kickstarter page for the game.

The cancellation of the Kickstarter shouldn’t come as a surprise to backers. Despite managing to accumulate $172,514 from the 2,718 backers who pledged for the game’s completion, the project was just too far from its $900,000 initial goal. It’s already been three weeks since the Kickstarter was launched and with only nine days left before the campaign closes on Feb. 25, it’s obvious that the game will not reach its funding target.

Even though the Kickstarter was canceled, the people behind “Apocalypse Now” are still not giving up on the project. They have since launched the game’s own crowdfunding platform at ApocalypseNow.com. The Kickstarter campaign is still live as of writing, but Markland already declared that the funding tally will go back to zero on the new crowdfunding platform.

This platform is believed to be an indication of the makers’ long-term commitment to the project. After all, it is stated on the website that the funding campaign for the game will run for 459 more days. Thus far, the in-house crowdfunding has gathered $57,260 from 143 pledges. If support continues to pour in, it’s possible that the goal of $5.9 million will be reached within the allotted period.

“ApocalypseNow.com will be an engaging space where fans and backers can get the latest updates, communicate with the team making the game and continue to support the project through the entirety of the game's development cycle,” the developer stated in one of the final updates on the game’s Kickstarter page. “The team will rely on this dialogue with the community to help them to create an Apocalypse Now game worthy of the motion picture in every way.”

Markland added that they plan to offer players a “unique interactive experience” with the “Apocalypse Now” RPG. He even went as far as describing this experience as something that would be like “Fallout: New Vegas on acid in Vietnam.”

There are three pledge tiers for the crowdfunding: Enlisted, Officer and Adviser. For Enlisted, the lowest pledge is $25 and this already secures one a digital copy of the video game. Meanwhile, the biggest pledge one can give to the project (Adviser tier) is $1 million or more. This whopping amount guarantees that the generous backer will get the physical Installation Edition of the game, 10 copies of the Collector’s Edition Box and 100 digital copies. This also comes with a surprise reward, a unique prop from the “Apocalypse Now” set, a one-of-a-kind Family Coppola Hideaway Adventure Package, a month with the game team and everything that all the other tiers contain.

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