The interactive entertainment sector has names that have been, in a way, the inspiration of many others to try to fly independently.
With a generation about to end, there are few projects that have come to light in the market thanks to a campaign of collective financing; normally through corudfunding portals and, in several hundred cases, in Kickstarter. Because this well-known platform has been the origin of names like Double Fine Adventure, Yooka-Laylee, Pillars of Eternity and Mighty No. 9, among many others such as the Spaniards Blasphemous and Temtem.
But the use of Kickstarter has changed. He has done so at the time when these financing methods also served as a media showcase to reach an already native audience in the networks and perfectly knowledgeable of the “simple” operation of this type of portals, where with a payment method we could support that video game (or whatever project) in minutes.
Shenmue III is the most prominent case, as we will see later, but the most recent name is The Wonderful 101, from PlatinumGames. After its silent passage through the unfortunate Wii U, the general consensus is that the title should receive a second chance and try again luck in the current generation. The port was done, but Platinum started this Kickstarter campaign with a success that was not begged: if you want The Wonderful 101 on Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC, in April you will have it at home at a lower price than it will have in the Digital portals this spring. That is to say, a kind of pre-reservation campaign that, according to the Japanese developer, also seeks to allow video game self-publishing from now on (according to, incidentally, the capital injection recently known by the giant Tencent) .
The Wonderful 101
Now, when there are more than three weeks until the end of the campaign, there are more than 24,800 sponsors for more than 1.49 million euros raised (of the 42,250 euros needed to get ahead). In return, new game modes, higher resolution and an estimated release in April. Whether or not he will break records is something we still don't know.
A series of data to consider: how things are in Kickstarter
The latest statistical information known about Kickstarter comes from a report published by the ICO Partners agency, where its CEO, Thomas Bidaux, revealed that 28% of video game campaigns promoted on the platform in the first six months of 2019 They had finished successfully. With tangible data: 193 of the 678 projects initiated ended above the estimated economic goal.
Kickstarter
This same agency believes that Double Fine Adventure (Broken Age) started in 2012 a positive trend that served as a push for many other projects. A case of such success encouraged the general public to support those projects that, while generating some uncertainty because of the nature of these purposes, invited us to think about optimism. At that time, 409 projects related to video games were shown on Kickstarter; a total of 106 were successfully founded, 26%.
The statistic is not banal: 2019 was one of the best years of the platform in terms of percentage of success, a considerable increase after five years full of doubts. Of course, the sea is now calm in relation to five or six years ago. Those 678 projects nominated in the first half of 2019 was the lowest figure since 2013, which also shows that now there are not so many risks because the competition is greater and the guarantee remains the same: an unknown.
Put in context, let us now know what the 10 videogames with the highest collection in all their history have been in these twelve years of the micromanagement portal.
Myst 25th Anniversary Collection – $ 2,810,127
Myst 25th Anniversary Collection
One of the most recent campaigns on this list and one of the most successful. The tenth of all time. 2018 marked the 25th anniversary of Myst, the Cyan point and click saga. Knowing how difficult it would be to have the support of a large company, the studio wanted to rely on fans to collect a total of seven deliveries in a single package. If it went well, in just a few months the players of Steam and Gog would be able to enjoy the game in their homes.
Those who contribute the most would even take a physical format version. To the surprise of many (they needed $ 247,000), the campaign managed to exceed $ 2.8 million with more than 19,300 support, so Mead's study, Washington, went to work on what they like best. "Thank you" was the most repeated word when they managed to close the campaign with that amount. Who knows if, in the future, this allows them to develop a totally new delivery of these first-person adventures where puzzles are the backbone of the experience.
Wasteland 2 – $ 2,933,252
Wasteland 2
Brian Fargo, head of InXile Entertainment, insisted from there by 2014 that Kickstarter was the future for developments that did not have all the guarantees with the great publishers. He remembered Tim Schafer (with Broken Age) and how much such platforms could serve to make fan wishes come true in an increasingly complex industry. Wasteland 2 wanted to be the continuation of that 1998 role-playing game, a title that would end up being the great inspiration of the Fallout saga years later.
A communication policy based on transparency managed to convince 61,290 sponsors; over $ 2,933,000. At the end of 2015, with a generation that was already starting to carburet, the title reached stores and did so for all possible platforms (including Nintendo Switch in 2019), reaping eminently positive reviews and Koch Media's interest in its physical distribution in Europe.
Its commercial launch was no joke: more than 1.5 million dollars generated in just four days. Again, Kickstarter had been the method of making an intention a fact. The future of InXile would go through the purchase of Microsoft at the end of 2018 in that great plan of the North American giant so that the video game department of Phil Spencer paved the way in the generation that will begin at the end of 2020. If today we can talk about Wasteland 3, we do it thanks to this project, which would not be the only InXile approach to Kickstarter, as we will see later with Torment: Tides of Numenera.
Yooka-Laylee – $ 2,713,958
Yooka-Laylee
Imagine the best Rare, the Rare of Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64. Now, imagine that many of those who were part of that dream team of the nineties on Nintendo 64 meet again in their own independent studio to create a new IP of three-dimensional platforms with which to revitalize a genre completely dominated by Super Mario in the last decade. That is what Yooka-Laylee intended to be in the minds of Playtonic Games, in whose funding of Kickstarter some members of this writing participated.
Personality, good intentions, artistic section result and an aspect that seemed to even improve what we had seen in those Nintendo productions. The result could not be better initially: more than 2.7 million dollars and more than 73,200 sponsors.
There were also problems in this development, delays and an ambition that, perhaps, ended up getting too expensive. The campaign's goals were all met, including the participation of Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie) in the composition of the soundtrack. The Reviews was a bittersweet taste since, although the title ended up being notable, the version that came to the press in its day, back in April 2017, was not as optimized as the one that can now be found in the PS4 catalog , Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.
In any case, the commercial success of the game, which exceeded one million players, allowed it to go on sale at the end of 2019 (this time without micromanagement campaigns through) Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, a 2.5D bet on instead of in 3D, this time focused on the goal of serving as a tribute to Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, from Retro Studios. The result was, of course, more effective and plausible, without the pressure to recreate a 3D world. The company's future is now much more solid and profitable, although they have not given clues as to what they will do next.
Ashes of Creation – $ 3,271,809
Ashes of Creation
Kickstarter has also been the cradle of MMORPGs like this one from Intrepid Studios. The bet, which managed to be financed in just 12 hours, got the support of 19,576 people; a lower figure than most of the games mentioned in this report, but with a much higher average contribution. The bet was ambitious and they managed to raise $ 3,271,809.
Curiously, it is the only game on this list that has not yet been put up for sale, so we don't know if that huge amount of money ended up translating into a large-caliber video game. The goal was initially 2019, but the tests carried out last summer with some servers in the test phase to tune up the battle royale mode had mostly negative reviews.
The decision was clear: leave when you have to leave, but do it well. The initial objective has been greatly expanded by including, among other additions, this battle royale mode, the genre of greatest claim in the multiplayer scene of the last two years. Intrepid Studios hopes not to disappoint and make this MMO get consecrated among the most played on the PC scene. It will not be easy, it has been three years of hard work, but the depth of your options on the playable level invites hope.
Double Fine Adventure (Broken Age) – $ 3,336,371
Broken age
That graphic adventures are no longer fashionable in the triple A scene is something that is not necessary to justify. Traditional point and clicks are now the focus of the independent scene, which does not mean they have less support, they have simply stayed in a somewhat more reserved niche. This is something they knew perfectly in Double Fine Productions, authors of what we initially knew as Double Fine Adventure.
$ 3,336,371 when only 400,000 were needed were proof that, as the campaign said, what was to come was "only the beginning." Tim Schafer, one of the creators of Monkey Island, came to the platform knowing that he had the (justified) confidence of those who now have in his list of favorite games of all time both that saga and other LucasArts jewels, including Grim Fandango or Psychonauts. A curriculum that spoke alone: but now it wanted to talk to us again, with something new and independent.
It was not until March 2013 when we learned that the game was finally going to be called Broken Age and, although the result was not as excellent as the fans would have liked, as they say: to take away the dance. We wanted a graphic adventure with a classic cut and we had a graphic adventure … with a classic cut; and from the hand of those who know the most about point and click. It was a positive precedent for the genre, because from there, regardless of the method, many small developers dared to cultivate more experiences like that.
Mighty No. 9 – $ 3,845,170
Mighty No. 9
It is clear that things do not always come out as one would have liked them. Igarashi hit the spot, as we will see later, but Keiji Inafune, another living legend of the video game and one of the best connoisseurs of the two-dimensional platform genre that has existed, stumbled heavily on Mighty No. 9. When we see the first arts of game the illusion is still there, with that desire hovering in our mind to see a new Mega Man from the hand of its creator; although far from Capcom, with another seal. With another name.
The release date experienced delays; there were changes of all kinds in the direction of a development where optimism faded over the months. 67,226 people said yes in the Kickstarter campaign, a sort of Genki-lady capable of agglomerating $ 3,845,170 when they “only” needed 900,000 to make this spiritual heir possible, a spirit that we don't know very well where it ended up truncating. everything remains in the Top-10 of video games born in Kickstarter with the greatest support of all time.
Our Reviews, published in June 2016, left us with a single possible option when assessing it: a scraped game. That 5 out of 10 hurt us more than anyone else because, above all, we all wanted Mighty No. 9 to be a new Mega Man, just as the author wanted and as those tens of thousands of sponsors did not hesitate one minute to deposit your savings in the project.
Pillars of Eternity (Project Eternity) – $ 3,986,929
Pillars of Eternity
The case of Pillars of Eternity is also worth studying. Not all projects born in Kickstarter end up having a note as close to the outstanding in portals as Metacritic, but this case is (89 out of 100, the best of 2015). Role, real-time tactics and isometric perspective; but, above all, very clear things.
When they give you these premises and tell you that Obsidian Entertainment is in charge, few things can go wrong, if the quality standards of those responsible for Fallout: New Vegas, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II or the recent The Outer are maintained. Worlds, among others. The company founded by Chris Avellone convinced no less than 79,986 taxpayers to raise a total of $ 3,986,929 in the micromanagement campaign. Of course, the initial launch date (October 2012), could not be met, as in most successful projects of this platform.
In spite of the problems, the support of Paradox Interactive in the work of production and the guarantee that the game was going to see the light also in physical format ended up making the game a success both critically and in public. These sales allowed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire to be launched in 2018.
Although there are those who crave a third part made by them, the study now owned by Microsoft says goodbye to The Outer Worlds to embark on Grounded, its new project, which will be exclusively released under the Xbox seal sometime in 2020.
Torment: Tides of Numenera – $ 4,188,927
Torment: Tides of Numenera
It may not be the most media, nor the highest quality, but one of the largest number of sponsors in its Kickstarter campaign. 74,405 backers for a total of $ 4,188,927. They asked for 900,000 dollars, it was not little, but this CRPG wanted to make history. InXile Entertainment, now under Microsoft's ownership, wanted to move the paper and pencil roleplay game Numenera, with all the rules and canons of the game … but in the world of videogames.
Continue the legacy of Planescape: Torment on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One depended on the community and, since that announcement in 2013, exceeded two million dollars in just a few days (one million dollars in seven hours). The good news was happening one after the other: participation of Chris Avellone, new record of donations in Kickstarter for the date … But, once again, that economic flow raised the sights of InXile and the magnitude of the project grew. Therefore, the title was made to beg until February 2017, but the result did not dislike at all and exceeded 80 in Metacritic: mission accomplished.
For those who want to play it today, Xbox Game Pass is among the favorites and, although there is no information about it, what is certain is that the support of belonging to the Xbox Game Studios label will guarantee that the ideas you have in mind They can materialize. Phil Spencer already said: they will give them creative freedom and financial support.
But now we have to finish with Wasteland 3, the next big date of the study with the fans, before thinking about more The Bard’s Tale, more Torment or a new intellectual property.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – $ 5,545,991
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
To talk about Koji Igarashi is to make it a living history of the video game. The term “Igavania” does not come from nowhere and, when it was announced there by 2015, the nerves of many were put to the surface: the father of the acclaimed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was back after his departure from Konami for a spiritual heir named Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. An old-school metroidvania with platforms, action, role and exploration that has changed a lot from its announcement to what it finally was. He needed $ 500,000, but raised 5.54 million.
The showcase was to grab the males: Michiru Yamane (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) as lead composer; and Ippo Yamada, known for his participation in the soundtrack of the Mega Man series.
In this case, Igarashi also found the support of a medium-sized publisher such as 505 Games and the goal of seeing the light on all existing platforms at that time. We had to wait until June 2019 for its output on PS4, Xbox One and PC; later on Nintendo Switch and sadly canceled on PS Vita.
Change of artistic style, delays to polish the gameplay and a few indications that invited to think that the situation was twisting more than expected. However, this project financed in Kickstarter won on its own merits appearing in the lists of best independent video games of recent years to record, that without room for doubt, that Igarashi is an inescapable profile in the sector that unites us. 64,867 sponsors saw it coming.
Shenmue 3 – $ 6,333,295
Shenmue 3
It's hard not to remember that 2015 E3 conference by Sony. That day, the trident of Final Fantasy VII Remake, The Last Guardian and Shenmue 3 became reality, suddenly; It was a dream for many. They were not going to arrive on those dates, however, but they were going to have to wait. So much so that, at the time of writing this article, the Square Enix JPRG is still waiting to be released.
But Yu Suzuki took the stage in that pavilion in Los Angeles, California, to communicate that he and his team, Ys Net, wanted to bring Ryo Hazuki back. The Kickstarter campaign broke virtually every speed record imaginable and revealed a very clear thing: interest in Shenmue existed and was very large.
We speak of more than 69,320 sponsors for a contribution of more than 6.33 million dollars. Along the way, during the next four years, the game would experience all kinds of problems and grow in magnitude; not so much because of the ambition of the development team but because of the closing of contractual agreements such as the one that narrows them with Deep Silver, international editor, so that Shenmue 3 was no less than desired by its creator.
Speaking to this house, Yu Suzuki declared that "it is not too late for Shenmue 3", no matter how many years had passed since that second part for Dreamcast, the desire was perennial. Shenmue 3 also implied the rebirth of the franchise, which has had a remastering in HD of the first two installments and that allow Suzuki to dream of a quarter.
Whether or not we met the expectations (here our Reviews on FreeGameTips), Shenmue 3 is the most collectively funded video game in history on Kickstarter.
The odyssey continues.
