Crowd Funding and Working Capital
by Dan Webb · in General Discussion · 10/21/2012 (10:28 pm) · 5 replies
Crowd funding is becoming the norm these days, as the system has been proved to work, and has empowered we indies by allowing us access to a market usually dominated by publisher funded studios and projects. However I've noticed an increasing trend of publishing houses, or rather development houses turning to crowd funding for their projects. To me this is not a good thing, and following is my reason for why.
Publishers have money. Big developers have money, and when they don't they have the infrastructure and contacts in place to get money. From publishers. Now, how is a small indie team meant to pitch their idea with some concept art and maybe a fairly decent trailer, when they're going up against those who can afford all manner of costly marketing material, from exceptionally presented 2d and 3d concept art to full blown CGI trailers? We can't.
The way I see it, we indies will soon need crowd funding to afford our crowd funding pitch. Where does it end?
Publishers have money. Big developers have money, and when they don't they have the infrastructure and contacts in place to get money. From publishers. Now, how is a small indie team meant to pitch their idea with some concept art and maybe a fairly decent trailer, when they're going up against those who can afford all manner of costly marketing material, from exceptionally presented 2d and 3d concept art to full blown CGI trailers? We can't.
The way I see it, we indies will soon need crowd funding to afford our crowd funding pitch. Where does it end?
About the author
I do terrains. Lots of other stuff too, but mostly terrains. I die in games more often than not because I'm admiring the view.
#2
10/24/2012 (4:51 pm)
Well actually Obsidian actually blew the whistle on those greedy publishers.Quote:According to Obsidian Entertainment, major big name gaming publishers and companies have been recently trying to exploit the Kickstarter system.
They state they have been contacted several times over the past several months from big name publishers who wanted the company to operate Kickstarter projects for them. This was during the same period as the company themselves was preparing and having their own Kickstarter for Project Eternity which ended up being a success.
The only catch was if they accepted then several restrictions would be placed such as the project couldn't be revealed as being from the publisher, the refusal to fund any of their money to the project, complete ownership of the IP, and the majority of revenues if the project was successful.
"We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them “So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don’t get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits” They said, “Yes”."
The benefits for these publishers would be letting the public bear the entire costs for development while gaining easy IP rights from developers.
» Source: www.egmnow.com/articles/news/major-publishers-want-to-exploit-smaller-companies-...
#3
Also regardless of recent changes made by kickstarter, the whole thing is nothing but a pre-sales/pre-order system, and despite purist commentary about how it isn't, the reality of it is quite simple without the reward structure, people wouldn't donate anywhere near as much as they do.
10/24/2012 (6:21 pm)
The actual source quotes from the CEO of obsidian are less sensationalist, but yes i saw that, tho in my opinion thats just the same as a drug addict rolling over on a drug dealer to shift attention away :pAlso regardless of recent changes made by kickstarter, the whole thing is nothing but a pre-sales/pre-order system, and despite purist commentary about how it isn't, the reality of it is quite simple without the reward structure, people wouldn't donate anywhere near as much as they do.
#4
However, the point of this thread is to discuss how publishers (with money) make it difficult for indie developers (without money) to raise the capital needed to fund their projects.
Think about it. IndieGoGo has its target in the name. Indie. A publisher, by definition, is not an indie. That's why they need to cloak-and-dagger developers like Obsidian (who are indies at heart) into seeking crowd funding.
We are indie developers because we don't want to a) sell our souls to the devil that is publishers, and b) because publishers would laugh in our faces if we tried to get funding from them for our projects. Yet now that indies have a means with which to compete directly with these publishers, they sweep in and claim the attention that's meant to be reserved for us. And they do this by spending huge amounts of investment capital on media we simply can't afford.
In my opinion, it's only a matter of time before someone creates a "by indies, for indies, and only indies" crowd funding solution. And I can't wait.
10/24/2012 (9:03 pm)
I'm of a mind with Bloodknight here (strangely :P). I think that without the various perks in place, projects would have a much harder time pitching their project successfully. I am looking forward to displaying my Xenocell forum badge, and getting my free vehicle!However, the point of this thread is to discuss how publishers (with money) make it difficult for indie developers (without money) to raise the capital needed to fund their projects.
Think about it. IndieGoGo has its target in the name. Indie. A publisher, by definition, is not an indie. That's why they need to cloak-and-dagger developers like Obsidian (who are indies at heart) into seeking crowd funding.
We are indie developers because we don't want to a) sell our souls to the devil that is publishers, and b) because publishers would laugh in our faces if we tried to get funding from them for our projects. Yet now that indies have a means with which to compete directly with these publishers, they sweep in and claim the attention that's meant to be reserved for us. And they do this by spending huge amounts of investment capital on media we simply can't afford.
In my opinion, it's only a matter of time before someone creates a "by indies, for indies, and only indies" crowd funding solution. And I can't wait.
#5
The main reason for me never going to a publisher is I want to keep my IP rights to myself and not have someone else have those writes, telling me either I can or can't make a game using an IP that I created.
10/25/2012 (4:34 pm)
I agree with you on all of those point's lol I problay wouldn't have donated so much to a few projects if it weren't for certain perks and rewards.The main reason for me never going to a publisher is I want to keep my IP rights to myself and not have someone else have those writes, telling me either I can or can't make a game using an IP that I created.
Torque 3D Owner Bloodknight
Bloodknight Studios
Crowd funding for games died when obsidian entertainment did its campaign on kickstarter imo. When a AAA multi million dollar company uses a system like this to fill its own pockets, it handed a big screw you to most other up and coming indie companies.
kickstarter is a fad imo, eventually (soon(tm)) it will die, whether it will die of natural causes (members slowly leaving, members slowly running out of cash, members getting sick of big companies scamming the system, members getting bored trying to find a legit project amongst the pile or crap already accumulating) or whether it gets killed because somebody sues it/a member/a project for failure.