Pixel Game Maker MV, the intuitive yet fully-featured 2D game engine from Playism and Kadokawa Corporation, leaves Steam Early Access on Windows and launches into 1.0 today, alongside the debut of a free trial demo.
Debuting with the 1.0 release are two new sample games including archaeological metroidvania La-Mulana 2 remade in Pixel Game Maker MV, bringing the total number of sample games to 20.
This sister software to RPG Maker, which sold more than 2,000,000 copies worldwide, simplifies 2D game development so first-time developers can craft the game of their dreams with no programming knowledge, while maintaining the power, depth and flexibility required by veterans.
Create a variety of 2D games including side-scrolling beat ‘em ups, pixelated metroidvanias, top-down survival horror adventures, puzzle platformers and much more. With Pixel Game Maker MV, imagination is the only limit.
Bring side-scrolling or top-down dreams to life with a built-in physics engine, local multiplayer support for up to four players and support for extending the engine with add-ons built-in JavaScript, among other features. The 20 example games come with premade sci-fi and fantasy assets developers can use to jump right into prototyping or in their own commercial releases.
The free trial demo will allow the transfer of work-in-progress projects to the full version. Version 1.0 has Steam Workshop support as well as other improvements requested by the Early Access community and will continue to receive patches and new features as time goes on.
An update in 2020 will add Nintendo Switch porting functionality, allowing Pixel Game Maker MV creations to be sold on the Nintendo eShop, published by Kadokawa Corporation. In celebration, Kadokawa Corporation is holding a Pixel Game Maker MV Game Development Challenge from Oct. 3, 2019 – March 31, 2020 to find fantastic works from the platform’s most talented creators for publishing on Nintendo Switch.
“This launch is not the end of development on the Pixel Game Maker MV engine,” said Noboru Mogami, producer, Kadokawa Corporation. “Although Pixel Game Maker MV asks for a one-time payment instead of a subscription, we’re committed to supporting our developer community with continuous updates so they can tell their stories with any game mechanics they can dream up.”
Pixel Game Maker MV is available now on Steam in Japanese, English and Simplified Chinese for the regular price of $84.99 USD/€71.99, with a 30% launch discount for a limited time.
For more information, please visit the Pixel Game Maker MV official website, Facebook page and follow @PixelGameMaker on Twitter.
