Non-equity Crowdfunding and Video Games

Non-equity Crowdfunding and Video Games

As this point in modern days, we would say there is no doubt that crowdfunding has become into one of the most popular activities to raise some businesses and projects, and of course, videogames are in fact one of those industries which have been completely obtaining some cool benefits from it. For example, video game startups increase awareness and connect with potential game-testers as well as non-equity investors on Crowdholding.

Crowdfunding and videogames, the best allies

On a time where videogame industry seems to be a little hard to be sponsored by any company, crowdfunding has become one of the best alternatives for those game developers which are looking to have a project from a paper into their own hands. And we cannot deny it.  There is no secret that overall, many crowd-funding pitches from all around the world will fail. Yet there’s something about the crowd-funded scene that draws indie game developers and enthusiastic gamers back time after time. And that is because, in the gaming world, there is that feel of “we all are brothers and we will help each other to reach a goal”.

And how can you explain that?

We all know that usually, games were mostly funded and even developed in a different way to which they are today, there is no doubt about it. In fact, way back when to get a video game out to the waiting gamer’s chances are you’d need a publisher. Which nowadays could be very tricky. Luckily for our indie developers, time have changed a lot.

With crowdfunding came a whole new alternative finance creative freedom, believe it or not, to really get to know your target audience and even involve them in the development process, which is always a refreshing feel. Not only have websites like Crowdholding changed the way that studios fund their games and some other activities, they have aided in the evolution of game development so naturally and quickly that it’s understandable if you missed any of these. Here we’ll take a look at crowd-funding and how it’s altered the process of game development and design for the better in every platform in the whole world. Even though crowd-funding has a very long history (before the online crowd funding we know today, for toys, books, films and even military conflicts were funded via methods such as subscriptions and war bonds, as crazy as it sounds.) it’s only been in the last few years that it’s become such a very popular activity, an accepted and successful way to fund any kind of projects.

Game developers celebrate crowdfunding

With Kickstarter claiming only around 9% of projects fail in all the United States, it’s not surprising that more and more people are turning to this practice every day. Just in case you’re not familiar with crowd-funding and its meaning, its whole process, it’s not entirely dissimilar to pitching a project in the traditional sense in any way. You create your own pitch and post it on one of the many crowd funding sites, and that is all. Those who are interested can back your project by donating some amount of money – more often than not backers will receive any kind of rewards in return depending on how much they choose to give or pay. Rewards often include the finished product, artwork, public thank you’s or being credited for backing any product from a business. The pitch stays online for the duration of the crowd-funding and, if successfully funded the money raised goes to creating the project. It’s a simple process which allows more enthusiastic entrepreneurs and creatives to have the chance to create a product and start their business, and it allows consumers to back items, products, and projects they’re interested in.

Why Crowdfunding is good for videogames funding?

We are sure you know that Crowd-funding is a way that developers can retain creative freedom over their content, or that is the theory. We’ve heard the stories about people in every creative industry who finds a publisher and suddenly their project is all but taken away from them, which is, in fact, one of the worst things that could happen.. It happens with books, in the movie and music industries and even in games.

That’s not to say publishing via traditional methods is a bad thing, but many people not only struggle to find a publisher willing to put forward the big bucks, but they are wary of potentially losing full control over their video game. In a world where the internet has made is easier for us to say what we really want to, more people are determined to create and share things that they really want to. Crowd funding is a great way to do that, although there are obvious rules and regulations that people have to take into consideration when making any kind of entertainment, generally, the rules are a whole lot laxer when you’re essentially able to fund yourself.

It’s not just a plus for developers, though – it gives gamers the chance to see the games they want to play and help make it a reality. It’s even changing the dev/gamer relationship for the better. Game Developers need to draw attention to their project and keep backers interested. Therefore they take to the social media sites to keep consumers involved. It’s opened up a channel of communication – if a studio in the midst of a kick starter stays tight-lipped and seems disinterested, there’s less of a chance their video games will get successfully funded, so they inject themselves into the gaming community in every way possible- now it isn’t unusual to see indie studios asking for the opinions and advice of gamers and hopeful devs online. It’s given people a chance to be more involved in the whole process and given it a personal touch for those who have handed their money over in the hopes of seeing a finished game.

York-Kaylee with little help From Crowd

York-Laylee has been dubbed the ‘spiritual successor’ to the still popular Banjo-Kazooie. The 90’s platformer saw kids spending countless hours staying up too late and pulling sickies. There was something overwhelmingly charming about a bear and the bird running around bright colored worlds collecting musical notes. Fast forward seventeen years – the kids are adults and are craving our childhood games again. We’ve had similar games come our way but few lacked that magic that came along with Banjo-Kazooie.

Luckily for us, some of the core team behind Banjo-Kazooie began a Kickstarter in June 2015 and raised over 2.1 Million from over 80,000 backers. Fast forwards again to EGX 2016 and we got our first look at a demo. I was lucky enough to be there and managed to get my hands on a controller. York-Laylee was everything we were promised- a 90’s platformer updated for modern gamers. Different yet familiar.

Please do not hesitate in contacting us if you have any questions or concern regarding this topic. At Crowdholding we will be very pleased to bring you any helpful additional information on this matter.