Revolution CEO and creator of Broken Sword, Charles Cecil, has warned everyone to brace themselves for ”catastrophic Kickstarters within the next year,” saying many underestimate funds they need.
He says the crowd-funding platform was a ”great tool two years ago,” thanks to it being fresh, but time is catching up. Broken Sword 5 raised $771k from Kickstarter but it covered less than a third of costs.
The danger lies in developers believing they can get by and deliver their proposed projects on the funding they secure from a Kickstarter campaign, with many falling into the trap of underestimating just how high costs can go when the ball is rolling.
This is going to ‘poison the well’ for those more fiscally savvy.
”Kickstarter was a great tool two years ago, but it was new and fresh then,” Cecil remarked at a BFI Video Games Day panel. ”There will be catastrophic Kickstarters within the next year, definitely.”
He also cautioned against taking a successful Kickstarter campaign as meaning the game is a success. ”You have to get off the starting block yourself,” he added.
Steam’s Early Access is going through similar troubles with Valve recently updating their policies to include new rules and guidelines for developers to follow if they wish to be a part of the program.
