The German development studio Aesir Interactive is developing a game that will offer certain players an alternative to Red Dead Redemption 2 – and is achieving incredible success on Kickstarter with its idea.
What kind of game is the studio developing? Horse fans often resort to Rockstar’s action game due to a lack of suitable options, even though they actually want a simulator. Therefore, they use the western game more as a horse and riding simulation because the game feel and the animations of the animals are so well done.
The new game from the Munich studio Aesir Interactive incorporates all the aspects that players who enjoy a good time in the saddle love. The developers combine them with survival elements, deeper mechanics around the horses, and a touch of Death Stranding – as you take on the role of a courier in 13th century Mongolia.
Their game named “Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori” will be released for Steam, Epic Games Store, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and even the Nintendo Switch 2, and they plan to launch an Early Access on Steam early in 2025.
Their idea is so well-received that their Kickstarter campaign they launched for it has achieved incredible success – as they have now raised 8 times their originally set funding goal (as of April 5, 2025, 12:30 PM).
You can get a first impression in the short trailer:
On horseback as a courier through Mongolia – a concept that convinces
How did the campaign go? On March 4, 2025, the Kickstarter campaign was launched to give the game more depth. Previously, the studio had received around €1.47 million in funding from the Federal Ministry of Economics in 2023 (via Gameswirtschaft). Now they wanted to raise money from interested players to bring even more features into the game.
Already after 19 hours, the funding goal of around €60,000 was reached. So far, with €481,668, more than 8 times the amount has been raised (as of April 5, 2025, 12:30 PM). With around 8,550 backers, meaning people who have financially supported the project, Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori has achieved a success that is only surpassed in Germany by the Bremen studio King Art with their game Iron Harvest, which raised over a million euros in 2018 (via Gameswirtschaft).
With their idea, Aesir Interactive has clearly struck a chord. Although the campaign itself is over, interested parties can still participate until April 11, 2025, to enable additional features.
What can you do in the game? In Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori, you take on the role of a young girl who travels through the wilderness on horseback as a courier for her people and seeks to uncover the legend of a mysterious “wind horse.” In doing so, you can travel through various biomes and must consider some survival aspects, meaning you’ll need to plan your route wisely.
Additionally, you can take extensive care of your horses, tame, train, and breed them. Various quests will also provide you with tasks: whether delivering freight or herding animals – you will immerse yourself in the life of your people. You will also be able to expand and design your camp. There is also supposed to be a crafting system.
Kickstarter has long established itself as a common method for raising funds for exciting game concepts to bring them to fruition. Not infrequently, the games are much more successful than their teams could previously anticipate, such as in the case of Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori or in another case where a well-known director feared for his game: He feared his role-playing game would fail on Kickstarter – But it funded itself in 27 hours and became a big success
