Before it crowdfunded in just 27 hours, the director of Pillars of Eternity thought he had a 50/50 chance.

Obsidian Entertainment, now known for their smash-hit success with Pillars of Eternity, was not always the success that everyone assumed it would be.

In Issue 404 of Edge Magazine Josh Sawyer, Pillars of Eternity's director, said that he liked the idea of creating a throwback CRPG, but could not guarantee its success. Feargus Urquhart was the owner of Obsidian at the time, and is still its CEO today. He was wary about crowdfunding. Sawyer, however, said that he would have been willing to leave his studio to do so.

Despite this confidence, Sawyer "thought that there was a 50% chance that we would be funded in a monthly" and that "the funding was done in 27 hours blew our minds away."

Sawyer, the creator of Pillars, said that the game's final concept was to "blended the best parts from the Infinity Engine games together into our own thing".

They thought at the time that someone would eventually cash in on the nostalgia people felt for isometric CRPGs after Double Fine's success in reviving it.

"Other studio members were also asking if we would do this. Edge reported that if we don't do this, another studio will [do ]'," Sawyer].

It's interesting to compare Sawyer's comments from today to those he made in July 2012 as documented in The Road to Eternity, the making-of documentary for Pillars of Eternity.

"It got to a point where I told the owners that if I couldn't be involved, it was fine, but we should do it. "', says Sawyer near to the beginning of the documentary.

Even after his success, you can still hear the echo of his doubt in what he said about the day that Kickstarter was launched.

"I was hopeful, but a little sceptical that morning. When it launched and started receiving money, I thought, 'oh cool, people are looking at it, and they're donating money', but I didn’t, like I did not really perceive the rate of growth," he said. He was clearly not ready to commit to something that may never happen. Then, it was funded... and continued.

"Once we reached 2 million dollars, I said, 'ok, we're making this game. It's going to be big,'" said Sawyer.

You still say that you're willing to risk your livelihood on a thing you think has a 50/50 chance of success? This is serious stuff, and it shows how even the most experienced gamers can't predict a game's commercial success.