We have amazing news to share. Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, the well-loved expandable card game from Plaid Hat Games, is getting a second chance through a new variation of our Covenant Subscriptions service we’re calling the Player-Driven Production model.
The concept is simple. If enough people sign up for our Ashes 1.5 subscription, Plaid Hat will reboot the game – starting with an Ashes 1.5 Upgrade Pack ($29.95) that contains rebalanced and streamlined reprints of ~30% of the Ashes 1.0 card pool – and new expansions will continue to be produced every three months as long as there are enough subscribers to meet the production threshold.
If you would like to see Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn return, sign up for our Ashes 1.5 Reborn Subscription!
We interviewed Colby Dauch (CEO of Plaid Hat) at GAMA this year where he spoke about the concept of a “minimum viable audience,” and our off-camera discussions quickly shifted to Ashes as a perfect example of this idea.
An expandable card game from a smaller publisher doesn’t have the volume needed for the traditional three-tier system and demands shelf space from retailers. Similarly, a game with smaller, affordable expansions make expandable games a bad fit for Kickstarter. That’s why these games so often never get made or get lost in the noise after their initial hype dies down.
Instead of accepting that fate, we’ve partnered with Plaid Hat to pioneer this new Player-Driven Production subscription model and to give dedicated fans – assuming there are enough of us – the ability to make Ashes 1.5 a reality.
The only way this happens is if at least 1,000 subscribers are onboard via the Ashes 1.5 Reborn Subscription. One subscription with a quantity of 20 does count as 20 toward the goal of 1000.
Given the unique and impressive art and personas in the game (thanks Fernanda!), how encouraging Nick Conley’s 1.5 development approach has been, and how highly we rate the game, we think that goal is absolutely in reach.
You can find out more via Plaid Hat’s press release and our live stream announcement (it’s probably stil processing), and we hope it goes without saying that all of us at Covenant, as well as the team at Plaid Hat, would love to have you as a part of this new Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn community.
As a little proof that this project has been actively in development for months, take a peek at the pending Ashes 1.5 Upgrade Pack design! It isn’t final, but it should provide an idea of what to expect.
We’re only able to do something like this because of the amazing support from our customers, viewers, and supporters over the years. We can’t thank you enough for being a part of Covenant. Some of you have been following us for over a decade, and we hope that our trajectory is in line with your expectations.
Now, let’s go get Ashes back.
The post We’ve partnered with Plaid Hat Games for Ashes 1.5. appeared first on Covenant.