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Can Kickstarter stretch goals cannibalize your vision?

"When you force a game past its own scope and design it just begins to cannibalize its own narrative and vision by stretching it until it breaks." - Developer Zak Ayles explains why his Kickstarter won't receive stretch goals.

Mike Rose, Blogger

July 17, 2013

1 Min Read
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"When you force a game or film past its own scope and design it just begins to cannibalize its own narrative and vision by stretching it until it breaks."

- Indie developer Zak Ayles explains why his successful Kickstarter will not receive any stretch goals. Ayles, who has been described by some as "The Next Cactus" (that is, the next Jonatan Soderstrom), recently launched a Kickstarter for his upcoming project LIONESS. The developer rapidly hit his target goal within the first few days. However, rather than announce stretch goals as many Kickstarter campaigns have, Ayles says that he will not be introducing such incentives to his Kickstarter. "Many of you are curious about stretch goals, and how this project's success will impact the game's scope," he said in an update. "We have no intention of taking our foot off the gas, and encourage you all to continue sharing this project with as many others as possible. However, there are no plans for project expanding stretch goals." "We disagree with the idea that there's any direct correlation between quality and scope in a project like this," he added, noting that, "we've seen this become the case just recently, and have no intention of making a similar mistake."

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