All Aboard the Kickstarter Train!
 

When I first read about Double Fine's Kickstarter funding of a new adventure game, two thoughts immediately went though my mind: how long before more companies jump on the idea, and how long before the backlash begins. We now have the answers to both questions.

Obsidian studios posted the following question on their forums (I'm lifting it from RPS for the moment since the page is being slammed by traffic)
They haven't set up a Kickstarter page yet, but if they do what game would you like them to make? It's a hell of a way to not only croud-source funding for a game, but to also figure out what to make. I can guarantee that Obsidian won't be the only company doing this in the next few weeks. A ton of developers will see Double Fine's success (currently at almost $1.4M) as a way to get their dream projects off the ground. Some of them will do it, many others won't. Double Fine has that sort of haul partly because they're so...trusted by gamers, and partly because they're the first well known developer to try funding a game this way. Once a dozen or thirty other developers have Kickstarter pages going, the revenue streams won't be as huge. So someone is going to be disappointed when their baby doesn't haul in the cash. It may not be Obsidian, which in addition to making some pretty popular games is a direct descendant of Black Isle Studios, but sooner or late some big developer is going to have their heart broken.

Sources - Obsidian Forums (page currently unavailable); RPS

I was thinking about submitting this as news, but I wasn't sure how to go about wording it. It's great news if it happens. I really doubt they will do an actual Planescape 2, given the licensing issues, but a new isometric RPG from this team could be great.

Provided that they don't pull the usual Troika/Obsidian stunt of releasing a buggy mess, of course. :/

Bioware wasn't able to keep the Star Wars license, but they were still able to keep doing space-based action RPGs. I'm sure Obsidian could figure out a way to do a dark and twisted fantasy RPG without the Planescape license.

See, now THIS is where things start to get tricky.

I haven't pledged anything to Double Fine, nor am I a huge fans of their games, but I recognise they are pretty trustworthy and caring for their fans. I'm not saying Obsidian isnt, but the more companies that start on this, the risk of people getting screwed increases. Someones going to abuse this system sooner rather than latter.

Saying that, I'd still be tempted to throw money at a dev to make some of the old loveable games I want, and there in lies the problem. You can play on peoples hopes.

We all see the potential for abuse, no one is denying that. But one should also not donate what they are not willing to lose. If they are explicitly promised something, I would hope they get a receipt in that case. ;)

Yeah, any caveats I may have allowed in the previous thread no longer apply in the slightest to this example.

It's Obsidian. They've never made a game that wasn't a buggy mess, and they always have someone else to blame for their problems.

If they get their funding, assuming the game doesn't just die in development, it'll come out buggy, half-finished, and mostly terrible, and then they'll blame their own fans for "not donating enough."

Which crowd do you think is more trustworthy: Dozens of game companies who have already proven that they can create and release titles? Or hundreds of smaller companies that are often newly formed around an idea they had and don't have an established reputation?

Adding the former group to the latter is more likely to lower the risk that people get screwed.

Yes! Do an old school, top down, party based RPG! I'd trust Obsidian with the plot and setting. I'm sure there's an idea that was shelved because it "wouldn't work" in today's market. DO IT!

People can expect Double Fine to product a click adventure that's good.

More complex games, by companies that may not have as good track records, if it comes out a poor game, will people be happy? (Remember its the internet).

Don't get me wrong, its donating to get what you want and as long as people realise that, it's fine, but I LIKE this model idea, I'd like not to see it get tanked.

I've given thought of doing a kickstarter for IGC - new equipment and maybe to fund the whole cast on a trip to PAX for a live show.

However, I haven't run it by anyone else on the show or really thought further of it, but there is a tinge of fear that we wouldn't reach whatever goal we came up with.

I like it, too, and if Kickstarter hasn't already tanked while hosting thousands of projects from amateurs, including amateur game developers, I don't see how it will be tanked by the entrance of professional game developers.

If you don't reach the goal then all the money is refunded and you don't do what you were planning to do. Besides the hit to your ego you don't actually lose anything. You might as well try.

Kickstarter projects tend to be focused on something deliverable, though. What will donators get in return?

Obsidian Pirates of the Caribbean. Yarrr!

Absolutely nothing, other than better sounding shows and whatnot. That's pretty much the reason we've never asked for donations of any type since we've nothing to offer in return. Well, other than more of us and better sounding. But we're not so sure that's a plus. ;)

Alpha Protocol 2!

Market saturation, failure (and greater awareness of it with big companies). It's perfectly possible for market models to become unpopular, and to be blunt, it's the internet, we can fuck anything up. :D

If, for example, Obsidian do one, release a poor game, and it puts people off donating again, it can have negative effects.

It's not likely, but depending on the dev, size of the project, and money required, they can become unfeasbile.

Small amateurs gathering little amounts of money can't really compare to major devs looking to raise millions.

Then Kickstarter probably isn't the right site to raise money. I don't see what's wrong with asking for donations to buy new equipment. Do some kind of promotion or telethon where half the money goes to IGC and the other half goes to Child's Play.

Or prostitution Psyko. Have you tried that?

To paraphrase a friend, I'd kick in money if it all went to Obisidian hiring a QA team.

Yes, I know. I was responding to the many, many posts elsewhere wherein people say something like "OMG they should do Planescape 2!" The likelihood of that happening is close to nil.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with if this does happen.