The video game industry has witnessed a historic moment with the release of ‘Kien’, a Game Boy Advance game that took a staggering 22 years to hit the market. This feat, achieved by Canadian game publisher Incube8 Games, has shattered the previous record for the longest game release in history.
‘Kien’ is an action RPG that began development in 2002 by Italian game developer PMStudios. The game unfolds on the chaotic planet Malkuth, where two protagonists battle against evil. Despite the game’s completion, it remained unreleased for years due to issues such as development costs and several publishers advising PMStudios to halt sales.
Fabio Belsanti, CEO of PMStudios, held onto the hope of selling ‘Kien’, even as the original members of PM Studios gradually left the group. He founded the game studio AgeOfGames to develop educational games and other projects. The resurgence of the retro gaming market, driven by nostalgia and curiosity, breathed new life into ‘Kien’.
Belsanti sent a prototype of ‘Kien’ to Zach Murphy, CEO of Incube8 Games, a publisher for classic consoles. This sparked the revival of the ‘Kien’ sales project. With the manufacturing costs of Game Boy Advance cartridges becoming cheaper in recent years, AgeOfGames teamed up with Incube8 Games to finally release ‘Kien’.
The release of ‘Kien’ after 22 years significantly breaks the previous record for the longest video game release ever, held by Duke Nukem Forever, which took 15 years to be released. Belsanti expressed his joy at seeing ‘Kien’ come to life on the Game Boy Advance as originally intended. He also revealed that he is developing a spiritual sequel to ‘Kien’ called ‘Kien: Astral Equilibrium’.
Read more: www.theguardian.com