Fig still awaiting SEC approval to pay out investment funds to developers

The investment and crowdfunding platform Fig has updated its filing with the Securities and Exchange Comission with new structural information on how it will process and pay out investment money raised on the platform.

Because of the new filing, the platform remains currently unable to process payments to developers from investors who backed their campaigns through Fig. According to Polygon, this is the third SEC filing from Fig since January, when they were told by a Fig representative that payments couldn't be processed until the SEC gave a thumbs-up on the filing. 

In a company blog post, Fig's Justin Bailey breaks down the updates to Fig's SEC filing, which include a streamlined infrastructure for funding and new rules regarding payouts. "Our prior structure called for creating an individual Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) for each game co-published by Fig," writes Bailey. "Now, proceeds from the sale of Game Shares for multiple projects will go into the working capital of Fig, which will manage the distribution of funds to developers as part of our publishing business through development advances."

Developer payouts, meanwhile, will no longer occur as a lump sum in advance, and will now be tied to development milestones. These milestones will also now include updates for investors to keep track of the game's progress. 

The milestones being added to Fig's financial structure make its fundraising process appear a bit more like that of a traditional publisher, and may dull some of its crowdfunding sheen. Several developers have told Gamasutra in the past that one of the highlights of the crowdfunding process is the elimination of publisher-mandated milestones. 

Bailey takes time to note that though the investment funds haven't been distributed yet, developers like Double Fine who ran traditional crowdfunding campaigns on the Fig platform alongside their investment campaigns have already received the revenue from said crowdfunding.

In addition, Fig itself has collected Game Share investments from accredited investors, and will be confirming and collecting payments from non-accredited investors.