The Problem with Kickstarter. And a Proposed Solution.

Reading Mike Rose's fantastic piece about why he won't be Kickstarting anymore I realised that I had sent a proposal for a rant about Kickstarter for the IGF. I had never fleshed it out. Now I feel the urge to.

The Problem with Kickstarter

It's actually pretty simple. You fund a game and it never materialises. That's the core problem most people have with Kickstarter*. At the root of it there's a quite simple mistake in how Kickstarter works: Upfront money and media hype is not compatible with interative development. Most Kickstarter projects are by small teams. A lot of them are quite experienced. Yet it is in the nature of Kickstarter that a project proposal is not fully developed when the campaign commences – not even when it concludes. Kickstarter serves many purposes, not the least of which is that it measures if there's a market for a game. The dynamics that builds up when a Kickstarter is unexpectedly successful is that features are added that prolongue the development of the game in question. A $700k project simply takes longer than a $100k project, even if your studio grows. Buyers also expect a grander game. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. But FTL simply would not have turned out well for $10k.

A Proposed Solution

Business sense tells me that building and nourishing a long-term relationship with your audience is wiser than betting on Kickstarter's quick fix. Introversion recently demonstrated that you can have the success of a Kickstarter without using the actual platform. How could Kickstarter adopt the cornerstones of that campaign? By opening a venue for contiuous financial support instead of a lump of money upfront. It would not be about kick-starting a product anymore but about building a relationship.

What changes would be necessary?

Prison Architect

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