Former Heroes Journey devs launch Kickstarter for MMORPG Hollowed Oath

The team behind the canceled EverQuest-adjacent emulator project Heroes Journey has launched a Kickstarter for its new MMORPG, Hollowed Oath. According to the campaign page, developer God Mode Games is asking for $100,000, with the fundraiser currently sitting around $30,000 and running through June 3.

Hollowed Oath is a new project rather than an EverQuest-based game, though it’s clearly aimed at a similar old-school MMO crowd. The pitch leans on features like a multiclass system, solo-friendly play, 560 class combinations, a Synergy System, and an “Oathline” character customization system.

The Kickstarter says hitting its base goal would fund a “minimal alpha” without outside investors. Beyond that, most of the bigger MMO systems are tied to stretch goals. Those include quests, more dungeons, mounts, expanded biomes, additional races, instance scaling, player camps, and voice-acted quests.

Some of the more notable stretch goals are set very high. Crafting is listed at $750,000, with the campaign describing that tier as the point where the player economy begins. A plot system is set at $3 million, while an “introductory PvP framework” doesn’t appear until $3.5 million.

Pledges start at $10 for a Discord rank, while $50 includes access to the phase 2 closed beta. At the top end, a $10,000 tier lets backers collaborate with the team on a class or Oathline.

The studio also addresses Kickstarter’s required AI disclosure. God Mode Games says it uses AI for rapid prototyping and says it is not using it to replace human developers.

For anyone who followed Heroes Journey, this is the same group of developers returning with a legally distinct project after Daybreak previously sued over alleged EverQuest copyright infringement. This time, the team is building its own setting and systems, even if some of the design ideas have carried over.