Indie Crowdfunding

General Discussions
#1

Hi everyone!

From time to time I wander around asking people why do they hate modern computer games (and some of them really do!). Their answers help to understand what is going on in the industry. In the past years there were many complaints about the Free-to-Pay gold rush madness.

Week ago I’ve made the survey again and it looks like the rush passed, players feel more optimistic and now there is another trend that came out in the last years. It is called “Kickstarter” or “crowdfunding”. The fact is that today crowdfunding is a must-have thing for your game project, especially when you are an indie. If you are making a game - you have to go to kickstarter, indiegogo or whatever service to collect money from players instead of selling your soul to publishers.

So I want to ask you about it: How do you feel about the crowdfunding?

Also, what could be the reasons for you to donate some money to a game? Which game projects have you backed already? How much money have you donated and why?
Do you have any positive/negative experience in crowdfunding already? Do you plan to go for it this year? How much do you expect to collect for your project?

#2

Crowdfunding is a really good way for indie developers to get enough money to continue development on their games. It’s not even always for the special benefits you get for donating; I think a lot of people are just willing to donate. They might not want to buy your $20 game, but they might be able to chip in $1.

About how much to set for a crowdfunding project, that’s actually an interesting topic. Set the money goal high, and it’ll look like you have little donations, but maybe they’ll feel like you’re more serious. Set the goal low, and it’ll get reached faster, but people are less likely to donate to a project that’s already reached its goal.

#3

Stats show that most of kickstarter projects collect exact requested amount.
Interestingly, an average game backer is ready to give 20$ for in fact unreleased game.

#4

crowdsourcing is basically like pre-buying a game a your local best buy.
you pay up front with no product only a promise that eventually youll get it.

Which likely explains why most donators are actually paying the minimum price to get the product and not token 1$ amounts.

This method is great for indie start ups that want to try something the community believes in but a large publisher would not risk money on.

I just worry that the percentage of games that never get delivered may tarnish this medium.

j.

#5

It’s a good way of kicking off development but yeah, it has its flaws. People see money and they change, they usually become ignorant towards their customers, forgetting that they are the reason they can even fund what is essentially their dream.

I would not fund any again after my most recent, 7 days to die.

Well, depends. Angles involved.

Tl;Dr it’s like a politician, we find then and give then jobs and they usually promise more than they can provide

#6