Project Phoenix just surpassed its first stretch goal with $305,209 pledged on Kickstarter at the moment of this writing, and the development team made the "huge DRM announcement" that was teased earlier today.

Players will be able to opt between an online mode and an offline mode. The latter will allow them to mostly skip the DRM of the game.

Here's the rundown of both modes:

Online Play - internet connection required

Players will use their login ID and password for their account to log in. However, you will have access to the following online services:

  • Claiming Kickstarter Reward Items
  • Online profiles (more to be explained in coming weeks)
  • Gain Achievements
  • Accessing your saved games from any operating system on any machine
  • Access to Updates and Bug fixes
  • Multiplayer - if the upcoming stretch goal is reached

Offline Play - no internet connection required

  • After entering the activation key, the game will be able to play in Offline Play without requiring an internet connection or you to login.
  • You may install the game onto multiple computers. The save data will be stored locally and is transferable between different computers. Only the single player feature will be available of the game.

In addition to that internet shortages won't affect you during single player play even in online mode, as the game will continue to try to sync until successful. Third party DRM solutions (like Steam for instance) are currently being discussed by the team.

Finally, If you opt to play entirely offline you will be able to somehow register the activation key without the need of an internet connection.

Moving on to less complex stuff, the first stretch goal, now achieved, grants twice as many monster and character models, and an extension to the sound track composed by Nobuo Uematsu.

If you want to contribute to the future achievement of the second stretch goal (that will be reached at $650,000 and will bring fully modeled cities and town, as well as customizable character creation), you can do so here.