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New ways to fund video games

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David Gregory | 17:09 UK time, Wednesday, 19 December 2012

So tonight we're looking at the role of the Kickstarter website in helping to fund video games. Kickstarter started in America but they've recently launched in this country.

Although you can try and fund any idea you like through the website it is interesting to see how it works when it comes to video games. In many ways the key to successful fundraising is reminiscent of good game design.

In creating a project on the site you need to attract people in, give them goals and a sense of progress and involvement. That's pretty much what a good video game should set out to do.

Our report tonight touches on two Kickstarter game projects underway in the Midlands. One for a game being created by in Stoke-on-Trent and one for a new game based on a 1980's character called from a major studio in Leamington Spa.

Ross was looking to create every aspect of his nostalgic RPG himself with the exception of the music so he used Kickstarter to ask for three hundred pounds to hire a composer. In fact he achieved twice the target so he'll be adding extra content.

At the other end of the scale is the Dizzy remake with a request for £350,000 from the Oliver brother of Blitz Games Studios. Although a healthy £25,000 has been pledged that's a long way short of the goal and time is running out. The gaming press has plenty of thoughts about what's gone .

Personally I think it's probably early days for such a large scale kickstarter project in the UK. The website has only just launched here and many of those who visit are Americans who will be unfamiliar with Dizzy's oevre (or oeuf-re?) It's not the only large scale British project that may not achieve its goal .

But overall it's hard not to be impressed by the potential of crowd funding websites like Kickstarter. It's already helped Ross achieve what he wanted and will hopefully allow him to work full-time on creating his games.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    I backed Stainless' Carmageddon: Reincarnation - a mid-sized studio effort that managed to amass $625,143 pledged of it's $400,000 goal.

    Granted they'd already spent almost as much already on the project so it was firmly underway already, unlike Dizzy. The game itself is likely a way off yet but the rewards are already starting to arrive. The community website is in place, the original version of the first game has been converted to modern PCs, iOS with Android due in the next few weeks - it feels like coming home for Christmas.

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