When it comes to discussing games in 2012, without a doubt one of the topics to discuss is how Kickstarter has changed the way we perceive and consume games. Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site that has picked up a lot of steam over the past few years, has become the go-to platform for game developers who are looking for financial support to develop their games as well as a way to pre-sell the game and use the money to finish up development and production. This really didn’t seem like a viable solution for most developers until Double Fine, unhappy with their experience produce the big-budget title Brutal Legend, decided to head to Kickstarter to embark on a new mission to create the kind of game they wanted to make. With adventure game legend Tim Schafer at the helm, pitching it as an adventure game from the people who know those games best, all of a sudden the money started piling in.
It was a success beyond their wildest dreams, and helped spark a revolution in the gaming world. According to Kickstarter, games have raised more money than any other project in any category, pulling in a massive $50 million this year alone, followed by film at $42 million. To understand how big of a leap this is, in 2009 games were funded with just over $48,000. Last year, games received $3.6 million, and this year games have leapt up to $50, making for a huge improvement and showing that the world is paying attention to gaming projects on Kickstarter.
In fact, according to Kickstarter, there have been eleven projects to receive over $1 million in funding in 2012 so far, and out of those, seven of them were in the games category. We’ve seen more and more gaming projects turn up on Kickstarter, and a good portion of them actually making their goal. It will be interesting to see how the gaming world adapts to crowdsourcing becoming more normal.
