Piepacker Kickstarter to bring retro multiplayer games online

We all have had moments over the past year where we wished we could have couch co-op with our friends and family. Piepacker is assisting in the online gaming space with their “all-or-nothing” Kickstarter ending on May 21 2020. The service will allow for users to play the 8 and 16 bit library, through a web browser, and allow friends to join the game.

Created by Benjamin Devienne and Jules Testard, these friends of over 10 years have had lots of experience. Benjamin worked for Gameloft, Facebook, and Twitch before the age of 30. Through this quick stint of gaming employment they got the best minds in the field. Former employees of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, EA, Blizzard-Activision and Twitter have combined together to make this a reality. After the company was created, they acquired the skills of Kenji Matsubara, Justin Waldron, Tom Bolich, Kun Gao, and Jeffrey Rosen, who have worked for and founded various companies.

“We’re looking to bring to the world of video games what Spotify brought to the world of music, making retro gaming accessible to all, for free and legally, while guaranteeing a high quality of service,” Benjamin Devienne, co-founder of Piepacker.

Piepacker Launches Online Retro Gaming Platform with Video Chat on Kickstarter (prweb.com)

What they are planning to do is pure genius, as they are allowing both pre-existing software and newly developed hardware to combine into this offline and online gaming experience. Their lowest tier is $100 and involves the Piereader itself and a adapter. The Piereader is needed to be able to play your physical games you own online. Piepacker simplified it in the Kickstarter Q&A.

All the pre-built games are playable online in multiplayer with connected friends. To bring your own games (BYOG), you have two options.

Physical BYOG: we have built the cartridge reader PieReader (an official Piepacker’s accessory) which is our main Kickstarter reward. NES, SNES and Genesis / Mega Drive cartridges are compatible with it.

Digital BYOG: if you have legally acquired digital games (ROMs), Piepacker allows you to play them in multiplayer with friends through your own private game room.

The ROM is never sent nor shared with your friends. Piepacker is only sharing the video feed and the game input on the same screen. Our platform is compliant with all regulations in the countries where it is available.

?️ Piepacker, online multiplayer for retro games by Piepacker » FAQ — Kickstarter

The Digital BYOG service will only be with the premium membership. At the time of this article there is no price for the premium service, as it’s currently in beta. However, the $100 level can get you a lifetime membership to the site guaranteed when it goes live. If you decided to try out the service, there is a library of 60 games playable for free. A list of the different perks for each are below.

While we have had Parsec in the past year for free would you want to buy into this really cool service? What games would you want with the service that would automatically get you to buy into the Kickstarter? Sound off in the comments below.