Matt Barton - Kickstarter Editorial

Matt Barton better know as Matt Chat has written a short article on Kickstarter that ponders on why publishers are needed sometimes. Now read the article as he has a point, and then you can comment if your still angry.

I’ve been noticing a trend lately (inevitable, I guess) in the number of Kickstarter updates along these lines:

• “Sorry I’ve been out of touch for the past few weeks…”
• “Unfortunately, the project has turned to be more work intensive than we thought…”
• “We asked for X, when we really needed XXX. Now we’re back asking for more.”
• “I apologize for my inconsistency. I’m accustomed to having a publisher yelling at me, without that, I just procrastinate endlessly.”

Okay, I made the last one up, but I bet it’s true for at least a few projects. But I’m not just posting to complain about all this. After all, it’s only human to make mistakes, especially when it comes to overestimating our abilities (especially our self-discipline). Likewise, there’s no denying that, as much as we like to bash them, publishers do bring certain things to the table: forcing everyone to stick to a schedule, cutting costs at every corner, saying “NO” to things that would disrupt the schedule or the budget. Kickstarter-funded developers, of course, are still accountable, but the folks who funded them aren’t in a position to get their money back or fire them.