Gaming world veteran, Tim Schafer and his company, Double Fine Productions, launched a campaign on Kickstarter to raise money for a new “point and click” adventure. They reached the $400k minimum within, well, a day, and showed the genuine power of the crowdfunding mechanism done right. They also launched another warning shot across the bow of the current big gaming world players, which simply do not seem to know how to respond to this shift in the economy–and seem too often to have become far removed from the fans of the medium who put them in positions of power in the first place. Schafer breaks it down beautifully:
Big games cost big money. Even something as “simple” as an Xbox LIVE Arcade title can cost upwards of two or three million dollars. For disc-based games, it can be over ten times that amount. To finance the production, promotion, and distribution of these massive undertakings, companies like Double Fine have to rely on external sources like publishers, investment firms, or loans. And while they fulfill an important role in the process, their involvement also comes with significant strings attached that can pull the game in the wrong directions or even cancel its production altogether. Thankfully, viable alternatives have emerged and gained momentum in recent years.
Crowd-sourced fundraising sites like Kickstarter have been an incredible boon to the independent development community. They democratize the process by allowing consumers to support the games they want to see developed and give the developers the freedom to experiment, take risks, and design without anyone else compromising their vision. It’s the kind of creative luxury that most major, established studios simply can’t afford. At least, not until now.
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