Kickstarter Is Out Of Control

[BladeVenom]

Was there a post for Shadowrun? http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1613260297/shadowrun-returns

 

[irishScott]

Right, because EA and Activision are never underhanded...

Big companies who publish for small developers could see this as an interest free loan. They'd be stupid to ignore millions of dollars in free money. It's a pre-order system where they get all the cash up front.

You're right. From now on I'll just assume every small developer is just an EA/Activision subsidiary in disguise. Every indie game I've ever bought, wasn't really indie! It was all a grand farce perpetuated by our corporate masters!

That's the logic your entire argument is based on. As for the rest of your post: um... what?

1. The money isn't going directly to publishers, it's going to developers.
2. It isn't a pre-order system, it's a funding system. Without pre-orders, a game is still made. Without funding, it isn't.

 

[thespyder]

Right, because EA and Activision are never underhanded...

Big companies who publish for small developers could see this as an interest free loan. They'd be stupid to ignore millions of dollars in free money. It's a pre-order system where they get all the cash up front.

Yes it is possible that some big company could perpetrate some nefarious underhanded scheme to get one of their games funded this way. But I guarantee three things.

1. They would only get away with it once. If they pulled the same crap as they do now, trying to limit and cookie cutter the game until it is an unrecognizable mess, they would have to create a whole new 'Subsidiary' because people would catch on real quick.

2. They would still expect a much higher start up cost to cover the game simply because, as a bigger company, they have higher overheads to cover. And they are expecting bigger profits. So in for a penny, in for a pound.

3. They would have to spend a significant amount of capital trying to keep the knowledge from the public. Being an internet community, and tech savy too boot, you can absolutely bet that someone would figure it out pretty darn quick. And communicate it to everyone and shout it from the mountain top.

So although it is good to be wary, and no one is saying simply swollow it whole without doing the research, I think the likelihood that this will all of the sudden become some huge cover-up for big corporations, is very VERY unlikely. IMHO.

 

[Borealis7]

there is a point i think all of you are missing.

would all these games have been made if money was not an issue for the publishers?

i'll make a YouTube analogy: now that you can create and upload any short clip you want for free, the internet is flooded with digital crap and cat videos.

replace "youtube" with KS, replace "short clip" with "indie game" and replace "free" with "fan backed".
my point is that not every game on KS would have been a "top 100" game if it was made by a big-name publisher.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> there is a point i think all of you are missing. ... my point is that not every game on KS would have been a "top 100" game if it was made by a big-name publisher.

I don't think we missed that at all.

No one is expecting Shadowrun or Grim Dawn to outsell FPS-Shooty-Title IX, we all get that they are niche titles.

A game like Wasteland 2 could have been profitable, but probably not profitable enough to be worth the effort of major publishers. They are like the big movie studios now, and are only set up to handle blockbusters. Something that costs $3 million and makes $5 million just doesn't interest them.

 

[thespyder]

A game like Wasteland 2 could have been profitable, but probably not profitable enough to be worth the effort of major publishers. They are like the big movie studios now, and are only set up to handle blockbusters. Something that costs $3 million and makes $5 million just doesn't interest them.

I'd take this one step further. I think Wasteland 2 could/can be profitable. But Big publishers want games with a proven Profitability formula. They have synthesized and number crunched the relative value of high end graphics, and universal playability as compared to the cost in creating these things and created a 'business mode' that works with a (more or less) guaranteed profit margin. Given the additional overhead inherent in a big company, they are not willing to budge or risk if they can't shorehorn the game into that model.