Crowd Funding turns game development back into an art form. People now have room to innovate without publisher's holding their purses and forcing them to imitate.
However, it scares me at the same time. Publishers are known for under-hand tactics to gain capital. If crowd funding becomes a viable source of income and can allow developers to completely bypass publishers, I doubt they *cough EA cough* would keep up their current pace. They might try to reach out to indie teams and start a program full of incentives.
Gamers have shown they are willing to shell out 60 bucks on a mediocre product. Here, they are shelling out 20 bucks or so (being cheap lulz) on what might become a good product, and you know your contribution helped it.
Also a great way for people to show off some innovation.
Far from fearing it, I think "big gaming" might see some benefit. Since, let's be real, even the hottest indie game on kickstarter isn't going to scare them. Yet it might show them where the trends are, and even who new potential employees might be.
This isn't just about "dead genres." The very idea of an innovative game is quickly becoming a "dead genre." Every shooter is the same. Every MMO (out right now) is the same. RPG's are going away from being RPG's towards being actiony games with maybe a story above the dudebro world, and that makes it an "RPG."
More discursive thoughts and feelings than anything really key, but a marker that suggests crowd source is hit and miss atm with people not sure which way the scales are tipping: Guess a few releases will gauge that over the next 6-12 months. No clear exemplars but a quick sketch of pattern:
UPDATE: Project has already been taken down by creator and all of the company's information is being deleted from the internet.
Some SomethingAwful guys got the clues and someone forwarded to RPS link
Points of evidence (Internet Detective-ing not mine, but from some nice young men at Something Awful):
God character art is from here, just with a sepia filter applied.
Backgrounds are from here and here.
Poster consists of this icon on top of this texture.
Their sword reward pictures are from here.
The reward tier text and values are copied wholesale from The Banner Saga's kickstarter, with just a game name search & replace.
Their office photos are just crops from the Burton Design Group.
Suspicious but not conclusive skeezyness:
They're "the same team that left Activision / Blizzard in search of something better!" and apprently worked on Diablo 2 and World of Warcraft (2009-2011), which isn't very likely.
"Animations will be done via motion capture thanks to some friends at Disney/Pixar!", also not very likely.
Project link: Mythic
Please raise awareness of this fact and report the project if you can.
Makes all the difference for aged genres/ip's; large brands regarding crowd tracking down the place that the huge marketers usually are not showing for these. Excellent info I think to in which this specific is/could get.
I love the crowd funding angle. Of the games I'm looking forward too, and not just MMOs, 50% of them are via Kickstarter.
Wasteland 2
Shadowrun Returns
Shadowrun Online (will have a KS soon)
Pathfinder Online
I certianly believe that once Wasteland and Shadowrun Returns get made other developers of old school games that had cult followings wanting a updated game will find Kickstarter as the way to get it done. Especially if the developer has a real passion for their IP and only care about making their fans happy.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
I am for that all the way. It is very very important to share and enjoy as a team rather than being herds into a cattle ranch for the sake a few greedy bums at the top.
Activision, Blizzard and EA is the proof in the pudding and a good reason why many of us are much more careful before purchasing a game.
Kickstarter's data also showed that of the nearly 700 game campaigns that have hit their funding goals, 95 percent of them were targeting less than $100,000.
It was previously believed that the success rate for the games category, which also includes board and card games in addition to video games, was around 43 percent -- a number of developers have pointed out that this is higher than what they expected, and can be a higher than rate than submitting games to a publisher.
The pitch pushes all the right buttons for gamers. The OUYA creators claim to take the value of a good gamepad very seriously.
They claim their console will be "open" and "hackable". So not only will you get to play all those innovative games the big bad publishers crowd out of normal console space, but you can probably get them for free (if you have more technical knowhow than ethics).
The pitch includes fleeting glimpses of games that will resonate with hardcore gamers such as Minecraft and Gears of War clone Shadowgun. The console's main interface features a game that looks suspiciously like Street Fighter 4. Their fancy App-store looks like a refactored Xbox Live.
Finally, their offices look state of the art, and the talking heads seem experienced and knowledagable. Except the main speaker seems to say the word "television" a disturbing amount of time, as if she's harkening back to a bygone age when the whole family crowded around a 13 inch Magnivox.
That's where the uneasiness sets in. I started to get the feeling that these people are in over their heads. The more I learned about their plan, the more doubt and suspicions I had.
I came up with this list of seven reasons why the OUYA is at the very least, a bad idea.
IMO more games, and especially MMORPGS should get fuding as Minecraft did. By staying in beta for a longer period of time, and charging fans who would like access pre release, with characters that don't get deleted etc.
First off I think it's a great idea. Let the customers decide what to fund. It just makes sense.
That being said there are some serious downsides. One of which is that customers generally don't have any idea what this stuff actually costs. If you get someone who is unscrupulous they could game kickstarter without delivering product. In fact I expect a lot of these projects to blow up, flame out or simply be disappointing garbage.
In most cases I think the originators of the projects have good intentions. But if you haven't shipped a game before in a role that allows you financial insight into the project then you are simply going off half-cocked. I expect a tower of burning corpses of the projects over the next 18 months or so.
Where does the responsibility of kickstarter to vet these projects begin and end?
Hmm, a call for more rigorous upfront cost accounting?
There are a number of potential ways Kickstarter funding is going to go wrong. The most obvious is the first time a high-profile crowd-funded big-budget game comes out and is a big pile of crap. That’s going to hurt things. The other is if a game doesn’t come out at all, and the ensuing fuss that will follow. But one I hadn’t considered is people making pledges they cannot honour.
Kickstarter fits into both the pre-purchase and rewards models. This means if pledging users offer money to a project, they are not legally owed a final product in return; rather, in accordance with Kickstarter's rules they are simply promised a separate reward for their pledge. Backers have not entered into an investment contract by donating toward a project, and because contributors are offered no financial return of any kind the legal implications of an investment contract are non-existent, says Bradford.
"Contributors on reward or pre-purchase sites are offered no financial return of any kind," he writes in the Columbia Business Law Review. "They are promised only a product or service — a consumption item. Therefore, no investment contract is being offered. And, because investors on reward or pre-purchase sites are not offered stock, notes, or anything else that falls within the definition of security, federal securities law does not apply."
The result is a crowdfunding model that offers backers no entitlement to products they've supported. Kickstarter officials contend that the company is simply a venue that provides the marketplace, and while the cost of a successful project is shared widely, users will not receive company protection for the risk of loss using the platform. Kickstarter is a buyer beware market, and as the backer's rights are limited to its Terms of Use, the system in its current form relies on the collective force of the community to keep its individuals safe.
Well theres better alternatives and i can show you one, World of Mass Development
WMD (World of Mass Development) is a new platform for games creation from the award-winning developer Slightly Mad Studios that allows:
Developers to submit ideas to an active gaming community, raise the funds needed to develop them, get continual feedback from community team members that can play work-in-progress builds, use the WMD Portal to promote their project, get help from other developers, and ultimately launch their game to an eagerly-awaiting audience
Players to browse available projects and join any they are interested in, download and play regular builds of the game, participate in discussion & polls, speak directly to the developers, and eventually earn money back for their contribution when the game is released
WMD is therefore a unique prospect for both developers looking to raise funds for their projects and gamers that want to get involved in exciting upcoming titles.
DEVELOPERS: JOIN US!
WMD community members join your project through the WMD Portal and the purchase of ‘Tool Packs’. This is all handled safely by us, without the need for you to set up any complicated banking systems.
Tool Packs therefore both fund your project and give your new Team Members a voice with which to contribute to the development of the game.
This exchange of ideas is then mediated through the use of dedicated forums that easily facilitate communication between yourselves and the community members onboard your project, and also allows reports & documents to be shared and feedback polls to be created (the higher the Tool Pack they own, the more their vote is weighted).
Comments
I don't think anyone posted this linke yet. Extra credits show on Crowd Funding:
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/crowdfunding
Crowd Funding turns game development back into an art form. People now have room to innovate without publisher's holding their purses and forcing them to imitate.
However, it scares me at the same time. Publishers are known for under-hand tactics to gain capital. If crowd funding becomes a viable source of income and can allow developers to completely bypass publishers, I doubt they *cough EA cough* would keep up their current pace. They might try to reach out to indie teams and start a program full of incentives.
Played - M59, EQOA, EQ, EQ2, PS, SWG[Favorite], DAoC, UO, RS, MXO, CoH/CoV, TR, FFXI, FoM, WoW, Eve, Rift, SWTOR, TSW.
Playing - PS2, AoW, GW2
On the whole, this is something positive.
Gamers have shown they are willing to shell out 60 bucks on a mediocre product. Here, they are shelling out 20 bucks or so (being cheap lulz) on what might become a good product, and you know your contribution helped it.
Also a great way for people to show off some innovation.
Far from fearing it, I think "big gaming" might see some benefit. Since, let's be real, even the hottest indie game on kickstarter isn't going to scare them. Yet it might show them where the trends are, and even who new potential employees might be.
This isn't just about "dead genres." The very idea of an innovative game is quickly becoming a "dead genre." Every shooter is the same. Every MMO (out right now) is the same. RPG's are going away from being RPG's towards being actiony games with maybe a story above the dudebro world, and that makes it an "RPG."
Gamasutra editors pontificate on Kickstarter:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/169357/Ask_Gamasutra_Should_I_do_a_Kickstarter_campaign.php
More discursive thoughts and feelings than anything really key, but a marker that suggests crowd source is hit and miss atm with people not sure which way the scales are tipping: Guess a few releases will gauge that over the next 6-12 months. No clear exemplars but a quick sketch of pattern:
Double Fine, Shadowrun, Wasteland (pure cash/raw enthusiasm thrown in)
Banner Saga, Starcommand, FLT (these projects seem best suited)
Republique, Necro and more (interesting projects somersaulting to hit their targets)
Class of Heroes, & many more ("ill-conceived projects")
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Reddit: Kickstarter scam project Mythic: Story of Gods. Growing awareness
**Scam projects detection**
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Annnnnnd, from the pile of steaming *... to a project that might interest a lot of mmorpg, rp's:
KICKSTARTER Project Page: Storybricks, the MMORPG storytelling toolset
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Gamasutra: Opinion: How long before the Kickstarter bubble bursts?
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Makes all the difference for aged genres/ip's; large brands regarding crowd tracking down the place that the huge marketers usually are not showing for these. Excellent info I think to in which this specific is/could get.
I love the crowd funding angle. Of the games I'm looking forward too, and not just MMOs, 50% of them are via Kickstarter.
Wasteland 2
Shadowrun Returns
Shadowrun Online (will have a KS soon)
Pathfinder Online
I certianly believe that once Wasteland and Shadowrun Returns get made other developers of old school games that had cult followings wanting a updated game will find Kickstarter as the way to get it done. Especially if the developer has a real passion for their IP and only care about making their fans happy.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
I am for that all the way. It is very very important to share and enjoy as a team rather than being herds into a cattle ranch for the sake a few greedy bums at the top.
Activision, Blizzard and EA is the proof in the pudding and a good reason why many of us are much more careful before purchasing a game.
Less than half of Kickstarter's game projects have succeeded - report
Full INFOGRAPHIC: http://www.appsblogger.com/kickstarter-infographic/
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Gamasutra: Kickstarter success rate for games even lower than initially reported
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
OUYA, the Android console - naivete at work?
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
a
(v informative) Mashable Infographic: Only 25% of Kickstarter Tech, Design Projects Deliver on Time
Gamasutra: How to succeed on Kickstarter
Gamasutra: Every Kickstarter a Success
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Kickstarter Stats You Can Use
eg
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
GamesBrief: KICKSTARTER: AFTER THE KICK BUT BEFORE THE START
Solid advice from Stoic (makers of The Banner Saga who made about 700k on their ks campaign).
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Enemies are the price of honor
Surprising good Soapbox on KICKSTARTING FOR MMORPGS - very balanced/discursive look at this for this genre:
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/08/21/the-soapbox-the-trouble-with-kickstarter/
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
http://www.mavorsrants.com/2012/04/kickstarter-we-need-to-talk-about-it.html
Hmm, a call for more rigorous upfront cost accounting?
------------------
Your Kickstarter project got funded... Now what?
How Camouflaj saved République's Kickstarter
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Bribery, spam, and harassment: the dark side of Kickstarter promotion
Get your popcorn ready...
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
RPS: When Kickstarter Fails: Jack Houston Has A Problem
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
TheVerge: Why Kickstarter 'can't' and won't protect backers once a project is funded
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Well theres better alternatives and i can show you one, World of Mass Development
WMD (World of Mass Development) is a new platform for games creation from the award-winning developer Slightly Mad Studios that allows:
WMD is therefore a unique prospect for both developers looking to raise funds for their projects and gamers that want to get involved in exciting upcoming titles.
DEVELOPERS: JOIN US!
WMD community members join your project through the WMD Portal and the purchase of ‘Tool Packs’. This is all handled safely by us, without the need for you to set up any complicated banking systems.
Tool Packs therefore both fund your project and give your new Team Members a voice with which to contribute to the development of the game.
This exchange of ideas is then mediated through the use of dedicated forums that easily facilitate communication between yourselves and the community members onboard your project, and also allows reports & documents to be shared and feedback polls to be created (the higher the Tool Pack they own, the more their vote is weighted).