I always assumed that the next bunch of book licences would be available when there's a Kickstarter for the first game expansion. Now I'm not so sure.
I get the feeling that a lot of the book buyers were people who also bought above the expansion pass tier. New books would ensure the participation of those people in the new Kickstarter.
There are quite a few authors on this thread. Would you want to wait for a new Elite Kickstarter before writing your sequel? Do you think a new Kickstarter is likely to happen?
Gut feel, nothing more, tells me that Frontier doesn't need Kickstarter anymore. I'm guessing that revenue from the current version of the game (along with funds from their recent stock market float) will provide the finances required for future enhancements of the game.
During the Kickstarter the 'writers packs' were part of the fund raising drive. It's unclear to me, even now, whether Frontier expected those to be successful or not. I would, again, guess that it was 'a bit of a punt' and the response took them rather by surprise.
Thus, if my suspicions are correct, Frontier no longer 'needs' any more fiction. However, if Frontier considers that the fiction has ultimately contributed to their bottom line in terms of sales of E: D, they may consider future licenses.
My guess would be that no more licenses will be made available until E: D is released to the public later this year at the earliest.
It is possible that Frontier might want more fiction to go with/highlight the next expansion pack.
At this stage, nothing is confirmed and none of the writers (to my knowledge) can proceed with another Elite: Dangerous official novel at this stage even if they do have the finances to do it. The required license isn't currently 'on sale'.
For my part, I am working on, and will complete, a synopsis for a second and third installment (taking E:R to a trilogy). However, unless anything comes from Frontier, I'll undertake nothing beyond that at this stage.
Cheers,
Drew.
