Kickstarter and Entertainment - New Possibilities

Kickstarter. Oh, glorious Kickstarter.

           Of the modern era, for gaming, and just about anything else, Kickstarter proposes a method of funding that was never truly integrated, or realized, until now. It's a place that allows developers and those that would be, a chance to create some promising technologies, products, services, and for me, some amazing games, where otherwise the ability to fund, and distribute might have been far less accessible in years past. Ultimately, while it still boils down to your ability to market yourself, and take the initiative, it's provided a platform to give you the chance to do so, to the masses you so despretely wish to secure, without the middleman – the publishing giants – giving you more freedom, to make these products, your way.

           From the get-go, Kickstarter is a place to provide potential backing from investors – who can be anyone – to get your product under development, and ultimately, launched. There's a great deal of amazing game projects under development, by way of Kickstarter, some of them earning amazing amounts of backing – Wasteland 2, Double Fine Adventure, Shadowrun Returns, or even the "Ouya" video game console.

           Some may wonder, "isn't this just a fluke?" or, "isn't the failure rate really high?" You'd be right, in some cases – after all, the failure rate is high, as recently stated in this article. However, in the same article less than 10% of money pledged in total on Kickstarter, has been pledged to products that have failed. And, with almost 4 out of 5 projects reaching their goals, if they make at least 20% of their total benchmark early on – that's telling sign that it's not the platform, but the method of your delivery. 

           Of course, that's not to say, making games and other projects, and using Kickstarter will somehow not be without fallacy. Afterall, it takes marketing your work, and giving something people want see, relative to your level of success of level of fame. I.e. Double Fine and the team behind Wasteland 2 succeeded so incredibly well, and so fast, due, in no small part to the level of fame attached to there teams. If you don't have that, there's got to be more to show, and more to market, to get backers.

           In a world where you can find distrubution, and financial backing at your finger tips, by way of the world-wide-web, it's important to remember, that the same skills you use to pitch ideas, and market yourself, and your projects/products, are the same you use in person as online. Anarticle at Gamasutra, went over similar pitfalls with developers, ranging from not having the press interested early on, not enough content to actually show, and lack of concept in promotional material and videos. With that in mind, having your 'ducks in a row', so-to-speak, can really lead to potential success, and it's this kind of chang ein the playing field of publishing and funding, that has publishign companies vying for space, and trying to accomodate the change in an ever growing field.

           Earlier today, Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian, made a comment on publishers desires in the face of the Kickstarter age:

                "We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes". "

           As you can see, there's a desire to to tap into that resource, at the expense of the development team(s) producing these projects. However, it also seems like it's possibly driving a wedge between these two factions. Many developers and designers come to places like Kickstarter, for a chance to have their product seen and heard, to the masses they're catering to, rather than on the whim of publishers, who have traditionally been the link to marketing products. In this new field, it's fair to say that publishers wanting to get a cut of this arena, will need to focus on Marketing, and potential retail distribution in excess of development costs covered by Kickstarter fundings. This way, developers can make the games they want, while giving some incentive from publishers, to get products into a wider market, without putting that commonly associated stress on development teams.           

           There's a reason people are moving away from the old model, and trying to control it, is only going to drive a deeper wedge. If publishers can't offer an incentive to developrs, there's no reason for them to let them on board the gravy-train, so-to-speak. Afterall, Markus Persson, of Minecraft fame, published, distributed, and marketed the game with his team, with his team, using whatever means at their disposal, by way of a personal network, rather than through any publishing venues. The game has sold over 9 million copies, worldwide.

           At the end of the day, Kickstarter, and various companies like it, are here to stay. The change in the landscape is clear, and there's nothing but signs of a continuing trend towards this method of marketing and funding for products, increasing the ever-present awareness of indie gaming, and other entrepreneurial persuits. If the game spotentially take longer, but have the kind of gaming aesthetic we, the consumer want to see, then that's something I, and millions of others, are clearly for, and there's never been a better time, than now.