Back in 2013, I wrote a brief set of best practices suggestions for project managers considering a run at Kickstarter funding. Since then, much has changed, and the advice I have to offer today is a bit more pointed.
This story was originally published on February 18, 2015.
We’ve seen a number of well-run campaigns, and it’s important to note that Kickstarter as a funding concept isn’t bad. It isn’t the wrong way to approach things, and it certainly shouldn’t be dismissed outright.
Unfortunately, Kickstarter has become a crutch for some and an idea factory for too many. Those that have working game prototypes, thorough contingency plans, and a realistic grasp of what stretch goals mean for inherent risk in a project are often buried in an avalanche of detritus.
For every success, like those enjoyed by Shadowrun Returns developer Harebrained Schemes and Wasteland 2 studio inXile, there are plenty that don’t make goal and, worse, fail after successful funding campaigns. Even if studios do manage to make good, there are often problems along the way.
For instance, Double Fine has yet to fully deliver on Broken Age (Note: this opinion piece was originally published in February 2015, and Double Fine has since shipped the second half of Broken Age). Originally due in late 2012, the project was delayed because of enormous stretch goals, ran short on money, and has only been delivered in part. It’s been an entire year since the first half of the game was released, and even that was over a year late.
Peter Molyneux's Godus, which drew our attention back last week, has failed to implement crucial systems well past the promised date. Molyneux admits to mistakes and talked to us about some of the technical challenges. Unfortunately, lost in the midst was the biggest commitment, made to a young man who was promised wealth and in-game power.
Beyond studios that find themselves in development purgatory, some just walk away without communication. The state of Washington has started to get tough on deadbeat Kickstarter managers, suing a company that failed to deliver custom playing cards (a campaign that raised $25,000).
The latest red flag should have been waved more than 18 months ago. Reports have surfaced that a game called The Stomping Land, which already faced problems with Steam when it was removed in September 2014 after developer communication ceased (later reinstated), is dead in the water. PC Gamer reports that the modeler on the title, Vlad Konstantinov, has moved on after even he has been given the silent treatment from developer Alex “Jig” Fundora. Some backers are requesting refunds on the Kickstarter page, while others are keeping hope alive. But the bigger problem isn’t that The Stomping Land is having problems and, by all indications, is likely dead. It’s that a naive project manager put forward a thin project like this and that people chose to back it without understanding the financial realities of business.
I’m not talking about the business of making games. I’m talking about business in general.
This campaign started with a request for $20,000. That should have been a non-starter right there. Let’s assume that Fundora had simply reached his goal. The $20,000 in backer funding would still have had to:
- Produce the game
- Create “the Dinosaur Survival Guide, the official handbook of The Stomping Land”
- Produce enough softcover copies for backers at the $35 level or higher (smaller volumes don’t necessarily mean lower cost, as per unit cost increases in short runs)
- Produce enough hardcover copies for backers at the $400 level or higher
- Ship those copies
At $20,000, it’s unreasonable to think that Fundora could accomplish all this. He certainly couldn’t have subsisted exclusively on these funds and work on the title full-time in order to deliver it in the promised nine months. Even at $114,000 in funding (some of which was promised to go to part-time developers once the $75,000 benchmark was achieved), the numbers simply do not work. This project would have been a miracle had it been delivered on time, along with all backer rewards, as committed.
The entirety of the “Risks and Challenges” section of the proposal reads as follows:
This may be our first independently made game, but the abundance of challenges that come with it are no new experience. All of us come from professional backgrounds, and the process of overcoming the inevitable challenges is just as rewarding as the end product.
The game's progress will be very connected to the community through the forums, where ideas and the challenges behind them are shared.
Nowhere in the campaign pitch will you find Fundora’s bona fides beyond having credits on Skyrim and Dungeon Defenders. No specific roles are mentioned. Investigation reveals that for Skyrim, he received a “special thanks” credit. On Dungeon Defenders, he is at least noted as “lead animator.”
What is apparent though, is that Fundora doesn’t have any stated background that would lead any reasonable person to think he could accomplish the goal of creating an open-world, multiplayer game single-handedly.