Calgary-based gaming studio NeoJac Entertainment has headed to Kickstarter to raise funding for its new sandbox MMORPG project, Neo’s Land. The big selling point of the MMORPG is that plans to give players an integral part in designing current and future content for the game. This is partly done now through roundtable interactions on the design of new content and will be expanded post-launc with player-created content.

Neo’s Land, a high-fantasy MMORPG, is expected to launch in 2014 and is being developed with NeoJac's proprietary server engine, Atavism Online, and is also integrated with the Unity 3D engine. The game will provide players with server world and building tools that that also include a Voxel editor and crowd sourced assets via the Unity Store, allowing players to create their own online world content and storyline. Player created assets can be sold on the Unity Store, allowing players to gain both in-game and real-world currency for their work, a move somewhat akin to SOE's EverQuest Next and Player Studio.

Don't worry, there will also be content within the game itself not initially created by players such as other races and realms as part of the game's initial content leading up to launch. Players will, however, help to carve a path to new content and establish new frontiers. Players can also purchase land ownership titles to use for player housing, industrial and commercial advancements, and explore non-instanced buildings and content throughout the world. And, as it seems to be the in thing now for some strange reason, the game will embody a classless skill system with no leveling.

The Neo’s Land Kickstarter will run for the next 29 days with the modest goal of reaching $100,000. Visit the Kickstarter page and official website to learn more. A short Q&A is also available on MMORPG.com with NeoJac CEO Jacques Rossouw if you're looking for a bit more.


New MMORPG, Neo's Land, Provides Fans with Unprecedented Access to Game Development and Creation



Fans directly involved in designing game and building game world; Kickstarter announced to help fund final months of development

CALGARY, Alberta, September 9, 2013 — Many Kickstarter games promise that backers will have direct access to the development team as the game is being developed. And through that process, fans of a game are able to provide input in a way that traditional game publishing does not allow. NeoJac Entertainment™, a Calgary-based game studio, is taking this new paradigm and adding one more significant process. Not only will players be directly involved in the creation of the game leading up to its launch, they'll now be able to create the game world once the game launches.

Welcome to Neo's Land™, a high fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that literally is being developed by fans, many of whom are already actively participating in design decisions. "We are listening intently to what our fans would like to see in an MMORPG," said NeoJac CEO Jacques Rossouw. "We are holding regular roundtable discussions with our fan base and they are dictating to us what they'd like to see in terms of an economy, combat, crafting, housing and more for Neo's Land."

Today NeoJac announced a Kickstarter project for Neo's Land, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neojac/neos-land-a-new-beginning, to help raise a stated goal of $100,000. The money will go to help finish Neo's Land, which is scheduled for a spring 2014 launch.

Neo's Land utilizes NeoJac's proprietary server engine, Atavism Online™. "It will provide our players with server world building tools that will allow them to create an online world and accompanying storyline faster than ever before," said Rossouw.  "Integrated with the Unity 3D engine as a client, even those with no experience in game development will be able to log straight into a world of their choosing and customize it by placing trees, buildings and non-player characters (NPCs) with ease. We are literally giving our players the keys to the proverbial car. We think that's something that is unique even by today's new game development standards.

"We've been working on the Atavism server engine for a couple of years. Really at this stage of development, all that's left is building out the systems to the game world and this is where the fans will be helping us create this unique world. We are turning to Kickstarter to provide the final bit of funding to help us reach our destination. We hope the fans like what they are seeing about the game and will log on to our Kickstarter page and back Neo's land."

Other features for Neo's Land include:

  • Voxel editor -- Allows players to customize their dungeons. Players will be able to dig into the terrain and sculpt it to their heart's content making caves or large open areas where they can build dungeon walls and spawn creatures to populate their dungeons.
  • Crowd sourced assets through the Unity Store -- Currently NeoJac is working with Unity 3D to allow crowd sourcing of in-game assets so players will be able to create their own 3D assets and be able to place them into the game. The players will be rewarded with both in game currency as well as real money through the Unity Asset Store.

Community development roundtables are already underway and will continue up to and beyond the game's launch. The discussions are currently moderated by Marcus Eikenberry, a longtime online games entrepreneur and tech expert at his YouTube channel. All roundtables are recorded live on Twitch and then posted on the MarkeeDragon YouTube channel. Eikenberry will be hosting a live stream Q&A session with Neo's Land developers on the Twitch channel during the first day of the Kickstarter campaign. The community is invited to participate in the conversation.

For more information about Neo's Land, go to www.neosland.com. To back the Neo's Land Kickstarter and to find out more information regarding how to back the project go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neojac/neos-land-a-new-beginning.

About NeoJac Entertainment

Founded in 2007 by Jacques Rossouw, NeoJac Entertainment was formed with the goal to create games for gamers by gamers. Shortly after the company was founded, technical lead Andrew Harrison joined the team. Andrew brought with him an extensive technical knowledge and the passion for development of online products which allowed the company to expand into many different sectors. The company's first major game, Neo's Land, is a high fantasy MMORPG being developed for release in the spring of 2014.

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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Stacy "Martuk" Jones was a long-time news editor and community manager for many of our previous game sites, such as Age of Conan. Stacy has since moved on to become a masked super hero, battling demons in another dimension.

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