Kickstarter is one of the most revolutionary platforms in modern times with regards to helping entrepreneurs launch new ventures. Through the use of crowdfunding methods, a person or company in need of funding can take their appeal to large groups of people on the internet instead of having to pitch angel investors or secure traditional loans. These traditional forms of financing were notoriously difficult to secure, creating a situation where those ventures that truly needed the money in order to launch had nearly no chance of actually getting it.
With the creation of Kickstarter, the world of Indie gaming have truly come alive! Before investment funding sites such as Kickstarter, being an indie developer was incredibly difficult, and still is, but now its possible to receive crucial funding for marketing and getting your video game out there, and being funded by those who truly wish to play your game as well!
Games such as Wasteland 2, for example, would most likely never see the light of day, if not for Kickstarter, and the massive fan base who supports such awesome classic gaming! For those who don’t know, Wasteland 2 is considered the grandfather of the classic RPG franchise, Fallout, and the creation of such a hit game by kickstarter funding could mean a lot more classic games and other games lost in history of time could see a re-imaging or sequel. Wasteland 2 received nearly 3,000,000 dollars in funding, which is far beyond the target funding for the project, which means that there will be more content and updates being added with the funding! Other classic games being released because of Kickstarter are games such as Shadowrun, FTL (Faster than light), Organ Trail, and many more, because of the funding of gamers, longing for fresh new gaming experiences.
The retail gaming industry these days do not enjoy taking risks on new projects, and prefer to stick to what works for them, mainly having a case of “sequel-itis”, and sticking strictly to their own games, and saturating the market with first person shooters. Many gamers are getting tired of the same old game, lack of interesting new content, and basically the same game with a new cover art attached to them. This has led many to turn to kickstarter and indie projects for new and exciting games, featuring interesting concepts, ideas, and game play that the large gaming companies will not dare touch, because of fear of investing in a project that may or may not fail.
The future does indeed look bright for Indie game developers, and others have taken notice! Steam also allows new projects on their network as well, and the Playstation 4 is rumored to be more invested in Indie developers too. I have done reviews on quite a few Kickstarter-related projects, such as Organ Trail, and will be doing more as well as they become available, and I do look forward to a bright future for the indie developers, as many have shared interest and concern considered another console video game crash may be upon us soon, which is another article for another time.