In what could be a case study for independent development for the next few years or so, HourBlast Games will release “Dueling Blades” for Facebok, iOS and Android in March.  The title is built on the Unity3D game engine and the studio has plans for a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to (supposedly) game through release. 

The Unity3D engine allows the team to rather easily port the Facebook game to iOS and Android later in the year and HourBlast Games says that kickstarter supporters will get some cool in-game benefits for supporting the project.

 The screen captures look interesting enough (who doesn’t want to beat each other with thick wooden sticks now and then?) and one can only hope this becomes another drop in what will soon become a torrent of core titles on Facebook.  

The fundraising method is particularly interesting though one has to wonder how long this type of development will be sustainable.  While Facebook games currently can be bootstrapped, as the technology races forward and the platform expands one can reasonable expect that the technological and creative resources required or a marketable game will only increase.

As a result, it’s a bit of an anxious irony for core gamers like ourselves who see so much promise in Facebook games.   It’s probably only a matter of time until the development costs creep above the point of bootstrapping, crowd funding or even angel investment (typically up to $1,000,000) and we’re back to huge teams and begging publishers for 8 figure budgets. 

In the meantime, we'll be keeping close tabs on Facebook games like Dueling Blades and seeing how they navigate the waters of this huge, but crowded market as an independent developer.