I found an interesting article on a site called xsolla where they talk about the cracks in crowd-funding, and a few Kickstarter concerns they have.
More information.
Kickstarter - The Cracks in Crowd-funding
- Thread starter Couchpotato
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Not sure I'd call it a "massive wall", any more than Kickstarter has been "massively hyped". It is likely just entering the dip part of the hype cycle.
Entrepreneurial efforts have historically had a high failure rate: 50% of startup business are doomed to failure. That's essentially what we're funding here—high risk efforts that hopefully fit our particular interest niche better than what the big corporations have been doing. And there are probably going to be a number of failures…
Entrepreneurial efforts have historically had a high failure rate: 50% of startup business are doomed to failure. That's essentially what we're funding here—high risk efforts that hopefully fit our particular interest niche better than what the big corporations have been doing. And there are probably going to be a number of failures…
Well I'm seeing more failures, and projects not being finished this year. Anyway thats just my opinion , and it makes me agree with the article.
The article should be a must read for any developer who causally decides to use kickstarter. It explains why you will fail if your not prepared.
Update: Let me be more specific I mean games that will never be released.
The article should be a must read for any developer who causally decides to use kickstarter. It explains why you will fail if your not prepared.
Update: Let me be more specific I mean games that will never be released.
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Actually most of them are delays which is likely since like one of the developers said since they have to give a release date upfront before they even know how long the game is going to take to be made it is guaranteed to be delayed. All publisher funded games only get a release date well after it is in full production or even into the Alpha or Beta stage and even then there are delays.
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ChienAboyeur
SasqWatch
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What failure? What cracks? A crowdfunding process has negative effects on gaming and?
Video game projects had something one third funding success rate in KS one year, the next year, this rate increased a little.
Will it be lower this year? Who knows? Maybe because they are a number of projects that are supposed to run on less than $1000. Not enough credibility from the start.
The non release of softwares will be exceptionnal. All but a few will provide something to install and launch. As it was the case for Forsaken Fortress.
As to getting a product close to the advertized product, it is not mandatory.
One developper promised that in their game, you could shoot through windows. In the final product, you could indeed shoot through the windows... only because you could shoot through walls as well.
The developper got away by telling that the promised feature was in as it was never explicitly told that you could not shoot through walls with windows in them.
You can afford a lot with standards of quality like that.
Video game projects had something one third funding success rate in KS one year, the next year, this rate increased a little.
Will it be lower this year? Who knows? Maybe because they are a number of projects that are supposed to run on less than $1000. Not enough credibility from the start.
The non release of softwares will be exceptionnal. All but a few will provide something to install and launch. As it was the case for Forsaken Fortress.
As to getting a product close to the advertized product, it is not mandatory.
One developper promised that in their game, you could shoot through windows. In the final product, you could indeed shoot through the windows... only because you could shoot through walls as well.
The developper got away by telling that the promised feature was in as it was never explicitly told that you could not shoot through walls with windows in them.
You can afford a lot with standards of quality like that.
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You have a publisher who controls your funding and demands a product on a deadline or you get cut off. Then you have a crowdfunding which gives you all the money upfront and you really don't even have to technically deliver anything. The porridge is too hot and the porridge is too cold.
I am a little bothered by KS projects like Double Bear, where in explaining why they haven't met the deadline they said their team was made up of inexperienced people who work remotely. I am sure these people are as cheap as they come (no experience, work from home!), but it is not like they are getting a deal when they have to educate a staff and do meetings through internet communication software. If you are a knowledgeable layperson, imagine telling someone how to do the most complicated thing you have ever done with a computer over something like IM, and then think that is at best an average task for them, you can start to imagine how never being in physical contact with a team can be a real problem.
Kickstarter and similar things will be around for a long time anyway, but it will definitely evolve over time and people will be a lot choosier about 2-3 year preorders and flatout donations to people who want to make games.
I am a little bothered by KS projects like Double Bear, where in explaining why they haven't met the deadline they said their team was made up of inexperienced people who work remotely. I am sure these people are as cheap as they come (no experience, work from home!), but it is not like they are getting a deal when they have to educate a staff and do meetings through internet communication software. If you are a knowledgeable layperson, imagine telling someone how to do the most complicated thing you have ever done with a computer over something like IM, and then think that is at best an average task for them, you can start to imagine how never being in physical contact with a team can be a real problem.
Kickstarter and similar things will be around for a long time anyway, but it will definitely evolve over time and people will be a lot choosier about 2-3 year preorders and flatout donations to people who want to make games.
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While I agree on alot of points in the article I think the picture it paints is darker than what I've experienced. Lets see, so far I've backed around 20 games. Of these only 5 have been released (Shadowrun Returns, Expeditions Conquistador, D:OS, The Banner saga and Xenonauts) and ALL of them late. But I honestly do not give a crap about the fact that the games were late, they still delivered.
Shadowrun was (to me) an enjoyable experice, the Dragonfall campaign even more so.
D:OS is absolutely brilliant, but maybe shouldn't be regarded as a Kickstarter success anyway because it was only partly funded that way.
Xenonauts: VERY late, but when it finally reaced 1.0 status it was (is) a great game and delivered excactly what they claimed it would in the Kickstarter.
The Banner Saga: Delivered what they promised and I really liked the game.
Expeditions Conquistador: Also delivered what they promised, although I never could get into it myself.
NONE of these games got "average to ok" reviews, they got "ok to great" which might be a small difference, but a significant one. These five games alone are enough for me to still "believe" in Kickstarter, these five games still gave me more enjoyment than most titles released by the AAA publishers the last couple of years.
And several more are in Early Access and looking really good (to me): Wasteland 2, Dead State, Lords of Xulima and War for the Overlord, and I'm confident that these four games will also deliver good experiences.
The rest? Well, none of them are cancelled, most have regular updates showing progress, and I believe most of them will be released with time, even if most of therm will probably way exceed their original due date. But I do have time, I've waited for more than 10 years for these kind of games.
So to sum it up, I do not at all believe Kickstarter is dying, I just believe they have to be way better at calculating release dates, so that people understand they have to wait. Even better to have just a vague estimate, but I don't think Kickstarter allows that. Still, I'll continue backing, as I belive most others will once a couple of more of the prestige projects are released to glowing reviews, which I believe they will be.
Shadowrun was (to me) an enjoyable experice, the Dragonfall campaign even more so.
D:OS is absolutely brilliant, but maybe shouldn't be regarded as a Kickstarter success anyway because it was only partly funded that way.
Xenonauts: VERY late, but when it finally reaced 1.0 status it was (is) a great game and delivered excactly what they claimed it would in the Kickstarter.
The Banner Saga: Delivered what they promised and I really liked the game.
Expeditions Conquistador: Also delivered what they promised, although I never could get into it myself.
NONE of these games got "average to ok" reviews, they got "ok to great" which might be a small difference, but a significant one. These five games alone are enough for me to still "believe" in Kickstarter, these five games still gave me more enjoyment than most titles released by the AAA publishers the last couple of years.
And several more are in Early Access and looking really good (to me): Wasteland 2, Dead State, Lords of Xulima and War for the Overlord, and I'm confident that these four games will also deliver good experiences.
The rest? Well, none of them are cancelled, most have regular updates showing progress, and I believe most of them will be released with time, even if most of therm will probably way exceed their original due date. But I do have time, I've waited for more than 10 years for these kind of games.
So to sum it up, I do not at all believe Kickstarter is dying, I just believe they have to be way better at calculating release dates, so that people understand they have to wait. Even better to have just a vague estimate, but I don't think Kickstarter allows that. Still, I'll continue backing, as I belive most others will once a couple of more of the prestige projects are released to glowing reviews, which I believe they will be.
greywolf00
Keeper of the Watch
There's definitely problems with the platform but how's that different than anything else? Stuff like Forsaken Fortress, Yogscast, and even the drama now with Con-Ex shouldn't be surprising in such a system. So long as they remain outliers though they won't deter me.
The evolution of pitches requiring more than an idea should have been expected too considering how long it takes to develop a game and how popular the platform became. When people have X amount of disposable income and more and more people trying to get some of it the minimum quality of the pitch for unknowns goes up.
Projects also aren't being helped by a lot of the bigger sites no longer covering KS campaigns (like RPS cutting their weekly article). The lack of coverage and general lack of marketing knowledge of some projects isn't doing them any favors.
The evolution of pitches requiring more than an idea should have been expected too considering how long it takes to develop a game and how popular the platform became. When people have X amount of disposable income and more and more people trying to get some of it the minimum quality of the pitch for unknowns goes up.
Projects also aren't being helped by a lot of the bigger sites no longer covering KS campaigns (like RPS cutting their weekly article). The lack of coverage and general lack of marketing knowledge of some projects isn't doing them any favors.