You underestimate the effect of a few massively successful games.
If something like Project Eternity or Star Citizen actually succeeds in transcending the publisher problems - and manage to truly evolve the genres, then people will flock to support similar stuff.
As for small projects - that could be another matter, but then again - they don't need many supporters. Again, if some small projects succeed in giving players what they want - it doesn't matter that some of them fail. The smaller the project, the fewer people are required.
However, as with all things - it has to be a real alternative, and we WILL need to see results in the majority of cases. That goes without saying.
But I'm pretty sure the core market is ripe for going against the publisher model - and MILLIONS of core fans are anxious to get back to an evolution of design, or at least back to the peak of genres.