Christophe De bont 
02/05/2017There’s a lot of promising Belgian projects on Kickstarter at the moment. Last week we talked about Antigraviator, but today the spotlight is on Hoverloop, a fast paced arcade arena combat game and the debut title of Peer based studio Not a Company.
Not a Company was founded by Howest DAE alumnus Philippe Mesotten. After working as a VFX artist at Larian Studios on Divinity: Original Sin, he joined Traveller’s Tales in the UK, working on LEGO Marvel’s Avengers and LEGO Dimensions. His love for Belgian beer and the desire to start a studio of his own lured him back to cozy Belgium where he’s been working on Hoverloop ever since.
Partner in crime – the Han Solo to his Captain Kirk – is Lars Driessen, a 3D modeler graduated from both the graphical lyceum in Utrecht and Howest DAE. After his internship as 3D/Animation artist at Glow Games, he joined the Hoverloop project.
In Hoverloop you control a series of fully customisable drones and you’ll have to fight your friends to the hovering death in a variety of classic game modes. To spice stuff up, the drones all have a unique ability. Whether you zap around the battlefield with Teleport, charge ahead with Super Speed or obliterate opponents with a powerful Deathray, each ability puts a unique spin on the standard game experience. The game will be released on Steam and Xbox One.
Hoverloop aims to bring back some splitscreen couch fun. Players can add AI bots to the mix and the team will implement online multiplayer, but the game’s primary focus is to get people together around a coffee table filled with snacks and drinks. Hoverloop features up to four player splitscreen madness and the host of game modes, ranging from classic Team Deathmatch to a thrilling Battle Royale where you only get one life, looks like a perfect fit to support that goal.
But don’t take our word for it, just check out the pre-alpha demo. There’s already a lot more where that came from, but it’s still a good way to get a taste of what Hoverloop feels like.
At the time of writing, backers have already pledged a little over € 6000. There’s still some way to go to reach the € 15 000 goal, but with 11 days on the clock, it’s far from impossible. If you’re all for a fun, social splitscreen experience and want to support a young team with promising ideas, you know what to do.
