I don't know I guess it just seems really strange to me to use Kickstarter as a financial barometer for whether or not people care about your project because I'm not sure there's much overlap between the people who browse around Kickstarter and the people who actually buy games in any large quantity. Would you have invested your own money in a game like Air Penguin? I know I wouldn't have, but it hit #1 basically on the night of its launch.
Agreed, at the moment there is a large disparity between those two audiences. Which is why I was suggesting giving the idea more coverage in the media. Business insider recently did a great article on Turf: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-exposure-using-kickstarter-turf-michael-tseng-2011-4 and that's awesome. Gamesutra also has had some good coverage on this topic: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6353/the_crowdfunding_revolution_.php?page=3 I think it would be super cool to see more websites like toucharcade that attract a large indie audience point people in that direction to close that gap and bring it more into the mainstream. It could become an incredibly valuable resource for helping indie devs compete in an app market that is getting dominated by big publishers. A way of 'evening the playing field' if you will, and make it less of a gamble to make apps as an independent developer. I'm working with pocketgamer.biz right now on an interview and have sent out a press release, so hopefully somebody will pick up the story. Either way, I'll share what tips and successes (or failures...) we have here so hopefully it will help some!
All the media coverage in the world isn't going to warm the general public to the idea of paying for indie apps in advance to fund their development. iOS gamers aren't looking for a starving artist to support, they're looking for an inexpensive, immediate diversion. It seems to me that asking for donations on a site that virtually none of your potential players actually traffic is an even crazier proposition than just releasing an app into the haystack that is the App Store and pray that it goes viral or gets featured. If it's strictly research you're trying to gather, there are easier ways to gauge interest in your product than crowdsourcing, just stick a trailer on a site like this and see if you get any nibbles.
Well, then you didn't look very closely at all did you? It's not strictly research, it's fund raising and community building as well all in one. I can draw diagrams if you like. Instead of saying "It seems to me" why not try it and find out? That's what we're doing. I'll update the thread soon with today's results and some tips for marketing for those who aren't defeating themselves before they start a project.
No need to be hostile. I looked enough to know those are the exception, not the rule. Clearly some people have managed to get themselves some money and attention doing what you're doing, so I won't rain on your parade further. Press release your brains out.
To be honest mate its like asking people to give you free cash for you to make possible money Unless you get an eccentric millionaire or similar family relative or win the lottery I would graft for the money I waited a year already to earn to invest in mine still I carry on
lol, noodler stick to your word game.. if you would even care to stop babbling and take a look at how crowd sourcing work you might have noticed you don't need to be a millionaire to hand out some money to a project of your liking.. people fund because they like the product or in the case of one of the examples above because they get 50% off the final price of the product.. what i find odd is that alot of people here are against them even trying it.. what is there to loose? if you don't try out new things for yourself you never learn if it would have worked or not.. i can't see nothing wrong in trying.. so again good luck with that.
Well, these past few days have been a whirlwind of emotions as I'm doing everything possible to get the word out about our campaign. Rejection is one thing, but being ignored is a real kick to dangley-bits. I'm really starting to see why you need an existing fan base to make this work, otherwise it's flipping hard! Oh well, the results are well worth it, and it's exciting to boot! We've been featured on a couple major places so far: Pocketgamer.biz: http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/Bravado+Waffle+news/news.asp?c=29486 Boardgamegeek: http://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/2139/preview-roboarena-by-bravado-waffle-studios As well as a sprinkling of other game review blogs. The PRMac press release I sent out was only $20, and well worth the price. I also found a game specific press release site called www.gamespress.com which is nice. Cubeecraft.com is going to be featuring the Cubee I made as well. We are at 5% of our funding goal, and hopefully that will pick up steam as word of mouth spreads. Hopefully I can get a few other big sites to talk about us and keep this momentum building.
Bravado, this is awesome! I have a lot of questions though..! 1. From the campaign I've seen a movie and quite a few levels depicted; how would you do that from the start if you started all over again? 2. Where did you get to make that swag? I mean, in a way that still allows you to keep most of the backing support money.. 3. If you did start with KickStarter, would you still make a website for the game, or would you just use KS? What are the benefits of your own website in this aspect, considering it shows more or less the same things you show on KS? I have more, but since I never knew of KS before, you just whirled a whole bunch of marketing-paper-ideas here. Good luck!
Well the articles and exposure haven't brought in as many new pledges as I'd hoped. But maybe I'm expecting too much too soon... Hmm, good questions. 1. To start with a KS campaign I'd have to have more game art and concept pictures rather than actual game play. These guys: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1704679348/machination-a-game-of-evil-genius had next to no gameplay, but had a great video featuring lots of concept art work and it seemed to work out well for them. Maybe it was because of the pretty British voice... Of course, it probably depends on how big your network is too and how many people you can reach with the pitch. 2. The swag is important, I wish I could give away more cool stuff because I'd rather have a super happy and excited fan base than have the money. I priced it out from various locations on the interwebs and found some people who would work with us. There's all kinds of cool stuff you can find out there... it doesn't have to be expensive though, look at some old successful kickstarter campaigns and get some ideas for the kinds of stuff you can offer. 3. I would most certainly make a website for the game. But that's probably because I just like to design websites and blog on occasion... It's cathartic. Also, if you've got a studio, it's nice to be able to show off all your work in one place. I'd guess that people will probably investigate you and your site before they invest in you, so having a site that shows a history of developing games probably helps too.
For the iPhone skins I'm using gelaskins.com, for the custom cut pins I'm going to use thepinpeople.com, for the post cards I haven't decided yet... there's plenty of places online to get postcards printed, for the 3d printed sculpture I'm still taking bids and considering options, everything else we are making in-house. Hope that helps!
BravadoWaffle, I like your enthusiasm, and I wish you the best of luck. I agree that the potential upsides for a successful KickStarter campaign are many, and it's definitely a model I'd love to see work for us indie developers. There's also the flip side to the coin that if the KickStarter campaign falls flat, it could mean that it'll be difficult achieve success on the App Store because maybe the game doesn't hold mass appeal, or it could be marketed incorrectly so that those who would like the game don't realize they would like it. Basically, I can understand the cynicism and negativity in the thread but I hope you're able to prove them wrong and create the successful masterpiece of a game that you've always wanted to create! I hope you continue to keep us updated, however it goes.
haha! Yea, that was my biggest concern as well! It's not an action game by any means, it plays more like a relaxed strategy board game. It was pretty hard to get the video to look even as exciting as it was! Me too! If I don't, it won't be for lack of trying! Also, we have succeeded at least in part already with getting some buzz going for the game and getting some fans to notice it and get super interested, so that's a huge upside, even if the Kickstarter campaign fails. In this market, even getting your company and game noticed is incredibly hard! Plus the connections and networking that promoting this campaign have brought are priceless. We've had one VC contact us about investing, and we are in talks right now with an awesome boardgame designer who wants us to co-design the iPhone port for their popular Eurogame! So that could be huge.
Another question (sorry ) - did you contact these places to see if you can get a better price than what's offered on site, or did you just scour the net for companies? I'm asking to see if I should try and contact them myself or is it a lost cause Thanks!
