t’s an old joke that just never quite stops being funny, but there are people who loyally follow the work of another individual or entity and can’t help but shout out the words “Here! Take my money!” at the prospect of being able to get more content from their said heroes. Crowd funding was once a humorous anecdote whenever the concept came up, but has now flourished into a million-dollar industry thanks to an outlet named Kickstarter. Hundreds of thousands of fledgling independent game developers have fully realized their vision with Kickstarter’s assistance, and with an avenue it offers to those who have need of financial support, more and more people try to get in on that piece of the pie with every passing day.
Though contemporaries like Indiegogo exist to give options for crowd funding without all of the red tape included with Kickstarter, Indiegogo has amassed a total $2.4 million in successful projects while Kickstarter has reached $45 million — that's the same budget for development on most of Ubisoft’s AAA titles.
The trend is not always as kind to every developer, and the rate of successful projects are shadowed under the failures who didn’t quite reach the finish line to reach their cash. Thomas Bidaux of ICO Partners noticed this trend and wished to lend his advice on a formula he has aggregated from statistics based off of past funded projects. We’re here to see what he had to say and whether or not there’s any merit to a predetermined formula for something as sporadic as Kickstarter.
The hook to Kickstarter is a clear cut exercise, but it’s not an easy one. In order to see any of the funding you may receive on an idea, you need to reach your goal. Failure to hit that dollar-sign embroidered finish line means you won’t see a single cent, so Bidaux stress that above all else, “Choosing your goal is the most important thing you will prepare before you launch your funding campaign,” as he brings about the aggregated statistics of crowd funding platform with projects dating back from 2009.
From 2009 to the end of 2012, Kickstarter helped 294 projects reach their monetary goal thanks to the outlet. The median is also slowly increasing to where current asking rates for fund goals are being increased with subsequent project pitches. Games of all shapes and sizes are finding success with funding, and have found their own networking outlet internally within communities centered on surveying projects. in 2012, only 30 percent of all the video game projects were successful.
Setting the appropriate goal will always be the first appealing factor before anything else is researched on the game or what it promises to do. Visit statistics show that while a Kickstarter campaign page has collected many hits and views, the rate didn’t account for the average donation amount they received, and the trend generally leaned towards an ambitious goal.
Requesting lofty fund amounts tends to intimidate visitors regardless of the quality and innovation of your pitch. Statistics show that ultimately, consumers are more inclined to fund a project that's successfully trending in opposition to the actual concept of the project coming to life. Starting small isn’t exactly the advice Bidaux is advocating, but he stresses the importance of choosing a number that works for your project and backers, stating, “Don’t ask for little and bank on stretch goals, because you’ll end up with your fund and may lose out on what you still needed from Kickstarter in the first place.”
Networking projects is part of the second most essential path to travel in order to reach a successful destination. Though still large in size and loyal to the ideals of the platform, the internal and insular Kickstarter community can only do so much. Emailing and promoting on all levels is a necessity if you wish to garner any climbing number. Reaching out to conventions and trade shows where you can market your game and deliver your pitch to attendees or journalists helps spread the knowledge of your project’s existence for you, and will essentially become free marketing. The question on whether or not there will be a more dedicated outlet for journalists to specifically cover aspiring Kickstarter projects has always been a shaky tight rope of integrity. Given the desire to remain objective and avoid the idea of direct endorsement, networking or sharing is something that is still done among games writers, and will be a significant foothold regardless.
The last tip Bidaux had to offer to the session before closing was to intentionally 
keep your pitch concise to limit the exposition of what you’re trying to do. One-sentence summaries of your intention with completing your project keeps things simple and accessible—proper labels for genres, features, and depictions that can be easily relatable and highly recommended, “Even if project that seems indefinable in comparison, the ease of identity will pay off in your efforts to promote,” said Bidaux for potential backers. By keeping it simple with backers in your initial pitch to earn their pledged donation, you can get detailed through updates and build rapport.
Constant updates of progress for projects are important even if the project hasn’t been funded yet, because of the information you can provide, this rapport will ensure that project managers have pleased those who went on a limb to back their project and may sometime even ear more said backers in repeat pledges.
Kickstarter isn’t going away. It’s only getting bigger, and as it slowly becomes more significant in the world of video games, it may soon change the way video game development and production managing may be handled for years to come as it gradually grows.