They Got $60 From Us Already. That Should Be Enough.
April 4, 2012
Hey look, I'm still picking on the ending to Mass Effect 3, but giving the real theme of today's comic I find the comparison appropriate. Kickstarter is a website where independent project can get funding by asking the fans directly to help with the funding. It's a novel idea. It's something I've seen people use to help get books and comics self published, but for every campaign that succeeds there are dozens, if not more, that fail. Problem is you need to have a strong product to get people to invest in it. If your fanbase is small or just not that interested your projeect is doomed to fail.
One interesting trend as of late however is developers using Kickstarter to fund video games. Now I don't really want to call them indie games, perse, cause some of them have pretty big names behind them, but they lack major studio support. Case and point, Tim Schafer's campaign to fund a new adventure game like Monkey Island or Grim Fandango. There's also Brian Fargo and Alan Pavlish's campaign to make a true sequel to Wasteland. Wasteland being the game that eventually spawned the Fallout series. There are audiences for these games, just not one large enough for a big name publisher to gamble on aand put their money behind. However that fans have spoken. Tim Schafer reached his meager $400,000 goal in less than two days, reaching a total of $3,336,371 by the end. As for Wasteland 2 it has generated $1,916,952 towards their original $900,000 goal, and as I write this they still have 13 more days before the campaign ends. So yeah, for Tim Schafer and Wasteland 2, ball's in your court. The fans helped you reach your fund raising goal, now don't let them down and keep your promise by making some awesome games.