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Swery's new studio debuts first game on Fig

Crowdfunded game will be Deadly Premonition lead Hidetaka Suehiro's first project since returning to development after illness

Hidetaka "Swery" Suehiro has taken the first game from his new studio to the Fig crowdfunding platform.

The game, an RPG titled The Good Life, sees players assume the role of a US photographer who becomes trapped in a quaint rural town where the residents turn into cats at night.

With the campaign shielded from public view until September 3rd this year, details of funding are only available to those that apply for "backstage access." However, it has been confirmed that Fig Game Shares for The Good Life will be available at $100 each.

The Fig Model offers what it calls "community publishing." Backers step up as shareholders, while Fig grants successful projects early development advances, liaises with the community of fans and shareholders to manage feedback, and provides publishing, PR and marketing support. Fig's first successfully funded game, Kingdoms and Castles by Lion Shield, delivered a 100% return on investment to its backers with notable speed, covering their initial layout in just 48 hours.

"From the bottom of my heart, I feel so proud to be announcing this game with Fig, a next-generation publisher," said Suehiro in a Fig blog post confirming the campaign. "This game will inherit the spirit of Deadly Premonition, my most representative work, but it will also feature a brand new style of gameplay.

"It's a mystery game based on the framework of a 'daily life RPG.' I'm positive that the happiest town in the world and the most bizarre townspeople in the world will capture your heart and pull you deep into their world."

With an eccentricity that has made Suehiro's Swery persona greatly beloved, he also included his now standard sign-off to players: "I love you."

After promising a short break from working on games due to ill health in 2015, within a year Suehiro had confirmed he would be leaving Access Games, the studio at which he created the critically polarising Deadly Premonition.

At the time, he promised he had not turned his back on games for good. In January this year, his formation of White Owls Inc., which is developing The Good Life, was confirmed.