Hello fellow UE4 Game Developers. I would like discuss and share opinions on the pro and cons of using a crowdfunding site such as Kickstarter verses a Self-crowdfund raising. For the past month or two, I’ve been researching Crowd Funding, reviewing popular project fundraising Sites such as Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, GoFundMe, and others more specialized towards game development like Fig, Gambitious.
I’ve personally backed several UE4 Game projects on Kickstarter, which unfortunately were not successfully funded. Yes, there are projects that have been successfully funded millions. However, a majority of these projects are remakes or developers of games with existing Fan bases. My research has lead to me to conclude that sites such as Kickstarter may not be the best fundraising platform for unique game concepts nor Game Developers without a proven track record.
The success of Star Citizen’s Self-Crowdfunding campaign inspired me to take serious look into self-crowdfunding platforms such as Ignition Deck, WPMUDEV, and others. For me, the advantage is greater control and possibly no expiration date. But, I think the challenge with self-crowdfunding is also the same challenge as with successfully funding on Kickstarter. Its a matter of trust.
Like many Game Devs, my consideration for fundraising is to hire Contractors for specific work ie: 2D/3D Art & Animation, Game-play Scripting, Web Development, Server Setup. I’ve been seeking a Crowdfunding Platform that allows the creation of multiple campaigns under a single project so that I can associate specified pledge amount to a specific contract work/service. I have yet to find such a Crowdfunding site, so I started to develop my own.
I believe Game Developers need a different type a Crowdfunding Platform. One that combines locating Contractors, Bidding, and Raising Funds.
Ignition Deck operates as a standalone and its Enterprise Version is capable of running a full service Crowdfunder Portal equitable to Kickstarter. The Kickstarter format was awesome when it was new, nowadays I think Game Devs need a Crowdfunder unique to their needs.
I agree. But, it also very difficult to get enough interest on those platforms, if one doesn’t have prior recognition. I’m a firm believer that good advertisement and marketing is required for recognition no matter the approach. The Kickstarter fundraising format works well for other types of projects. There’s room to add more features. Room to evolve. I would like to see features supporting the creation of multiple sub-campaigns under a single project. Such features would allow for more granular modular approach to fundraising for projects like game development which smaller ‘achievable’ pledges. We see granularity in the rewards and extended goals, why not in pledge itself?
I would like to believe that crowdfunding isn’t fatiguing, just need some new innovations to the format. In truth, I would more so prefer talented Individuals donate time and effort to my project, than the public to donate money. But, such a platform doesn’t exists. So raise funds to entice the talent. Why not combine contractor bidding with crowdfunding? I think Kickstarter’s ‘leveling’ mechanisms: rewards and extended goals are great for encouraging donations. I would like to add multiple pledges for specific product/service needs, freelancer bidding and assignment. The system would work something like:
Game Dev Posts –> Job
Contractor’s Bid –> Job
Game Dev Accepts Bid –> Creates Pledge
Backer –> Pledge
I feel this approach would give the Backers more insight into Project into a campaign’s success. I’m personally not interested in developing a new crowdfunding platform. I would rather focus on my own business model. Thus, I’m gearing my experiments with self-crowdfunding towards my business model using a format inspired by Kickstarter. A Flash/HMTL5 Games Arcade (FUNDERCADE) in which Backers purchase virtual Tokens to play games. These purchases fund my project. This is not new approach to donations, but, using the Kickstarter format would be new.
Bliive is a very cool concept. If one could swap out ‘experiences’ with production of ‘assets’ (code/media) and services, it would be closer to what I seek. The main differences is in the reward. The potential for such ‘asset’ trade already exists here in this community, but, need more built in tools to support via the web.
The contractor bidding requires some more brainstorming to work out the details. It could possibly work like an Auction. I would anticipate some form of portfolio, ratings and reviews system to help Developers (and Backers) make a confident decision on Contractor Bids. In fact, I’ve considered the Bid being the Pledge itself, essentially, Contractor posts a Pledge towards a Project.
To draw traffic, I’ve planned to hire a marketing specialist to help with press releases, social media promotion, etc. In addition to incorporating SEO and a multi-tiered Affiliate Marketing Program into my WWW Portal.