Loftia is a new MMORPG that resembles a mix of Palia with instances from WoW. For its initial funding, it started a campaign on Kickstarter aiming to raise $150,000. Within a few hours, the amount was more than doubled, and there are still 28 days remaining.
What kind of game is this? Loftia is a so-called Cozy-MMO and aims to take the stress out of the gaming experience. It reminds of the new Palia, focusing more on instances and quests.
You enter a colorful “Solarpunk” game world with your character, where renewable energies play an important role. Most adventures take place in the cloud city Loftia City, but there are also other islands you can explore.
Your goal is to complete large projects together with other players and rebuild the city. The MMO feeling is in the foreground:
- Important elements are farming, cooking, fishing, housing, and raising pets. However, you can also take on jobs, such as serving at the café, working in the flower shop, or being a hairdresser. Everything is supposed to be connected with mini-games.
- Together with your players, you carry out large construction projects like building a metro line or learning new technologies.
- The game completely forgoes a combat system, but there are supposed to be dungeons and raids. These are content for 3 to 10 players, in which you must master instanced challenges. As an example, the developers mention It Takes Two, Fall Guys, and the shrines from the recent The Legend of Zelda.
- Players can organize themselves in guilds – so-called clubs. There is even supposed to be club housing if more money is raised on Kickstarter.
- Cosmetics and personal appearance play an important role.
- The world is divided into areas where up to 150 players can fit at the same time. This is significantly more than in Palia, where only 25 players can enter a city at the same time.
How is the development going so far? The work on Loftia started a year ago, in July 2022. Since then, the team has grown from 5 to over 20 developers. They now want to raise more money through Kickstarter and are succeeding in that.
The minimum goal has been surpassed within hours
How is the campaign going? The developers wanted to raise at least $150,000 through Kickstarter and have currently reached over $350,000. The campaign is only 1.5 days old and still has over 28 days to run. So, it’s quite possible that the amount will go up.
In total, over 5,000 people have supported the project. Packages that include an Early Access key start at $30. The more you pay, the more rewards you receive, including soundtracks, artworks, and access to the alpha.
However, the earnings from Kickstarter alone will not be enough to fully finance Loftia. This is illustrated by the MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria, which recently revealed how quickly the $7 million from crowdfunding were spent.
Founder describes herself as a hardcore raider
Who is behind the project? Mic is the founder of Loftia, who started the game as a hobby project in early 2022. She shares on Reddit that she has long been a hardcore raider in various MMOs, has always played competitively, and loves games that focus on good combat.
However, now she needs a break from it, so she developed Loftia out of her own need, hoping that more people share this. She intends to mix Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, World of Warcraft, and MapleStory.
When will the game be released? There is no official release date yet. However, on Kickstarter it states that backers with an alpha key should get access in 2024, while early access is planned for 2025.
For which platforms will Loftia be released? It is supposed to be released for PC (Steam), Mac, and Nintendo Switch. The available languages are English, German, Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese, and Brazilian Portuguese. The developers have set high goals.
What do you think of Loftia? Does the concept appeal to you? And how do you see it compared to its direct competitor Palia?
Palia has already started its closed beta and will be available for everyone to try starting August 10. Here’s what you can expect there: After an hour of gameplay, I’m sure – Palia is not a classic MMORPG, but exactly what I need right now.
