Early Access -> Crowdfund or Only Crowdfund ?

TAN

Hey mates.

There is something I was searching through recently ( like I always do ) and tought better also open a thread here.

For an indie game funding purposes do people usually go Greenlit -> Early Acces -> Kickstarter ( or Indiegogo) or is it just me ?

Also are there any other strategies you mates know about funding the indie games please share it too.

Well thanks are in advance and good wishes from Tracktor driving, MG manning aunty

skankerzero

All I know is that the days of only Kickstarter with an idea are over. You really need to have a demo now days before asking for any money from what I can observe.

Mask_Salesman

Yeah vertical slice pitches are the way to go. Some proof of concept. Everyone has ideas, but not everyone can actualize them.

Tekoppar

So you mean people have finally gotten smart? What madness is this I'm reading.

Shrike

Mask_Salesman wrote: »

Yeah vertical slice pitches are the way to go. Some proof of concept. Everyone has ideas, but not everyone can actualize them.

pretty much that

Very careful with playable demos tho. People back in the sense that they have a desire to play the game. The demo fulfills this desire, and so the motivation is gone. Thats why pretty much nobody does demos anymore, they drive sales away.

make sure your campaigns overlap so you get views for your funding at the right time. Dont expect anybody coming back to a greenlight campaign and checking out whats going on, so make sure to sync

tynew

Shrike wrote: »

pretty much that

Don't ever do playable demos tho. People back in the sense that they have a desire to play the game. The demo fulfills this desire, and so the motivation is gone. Thats why pretty much nobody does demos anymore, they drive sales away.

make sure your campaigns overlap so you get views for your funding at the right time. Dont expect anybody coming back to a greenlight campaign and checking out whats going on, so make sure to sync

Many successful Kickstarter projects provide demos for eg Stasis. My Kickstarter failed with around 30% funding. Aside from the launch month, I strongly believe a playable demo would have boosted that percentage quite a bit.

It gives journalists all the more reason to cover the Kickstarter campaign if they can play it themselves.

Shrike

Always do what you think is best for you, im just saying what is proven (and logical imo), surely will a demo not make you fail or anything, but it will rather hurt than help you, and it takes development time usually. There was a nice talk on ted about it as well i think, maybe ill find it.

PyrZern

Instant Alpha Access is what boosts sales. Free Demo usually isn't the determine factor anymore. (unless you really really polish that crap. And make sure it leaves players wanting for more, instead of satisfying them.)

Zack Maxwell

Doesn't Early Access solve the demo issue? It essentially automates a process of giving out a "demo" to people who pay a minimum amount to back the project.
People get a demo to play early, and you're guaranteed not to drive away potential backers by leaving them satisfied by the demo.
Win/Win.
In fact, it provides a very strong incentive for people to back it.

blankslatejoe

As others have said, I'd be very wary of a kickstarter unless you have a very large amount of *visual* work complete. Even then, it's not a likely success(just look at Black Glove or Ashen Rift :-( ). The fact is, you're unlikely to get much in the way of press coverage just because you're on kickstarter these days, which is crucial to a successful campaign.

That doesn't mean its impossible..but I'm seeing a lot more developers self-fund, or build prototypes during gamejams to use as springboards, or funding-via-"indie"-publishers like DD, or sell EA via steam or the humble widget, and etc. it seems there is a lot more variety to the ways games get funding these days.

PyrZern

Grimwolf wrote: »

Doesn't Early Access solve the demo issue? It essentially automates a process of giving out a "demo" to people who pay a minimum amount to back the project.
People get a demo to play early, and you're guaranteed not to drive away potential backers by leaving them satisfied by the demo.
Win/Win.
In fact, it provides a very strong incentive for people to back it.

That depends... Many times, to get instant access, you gotta pay like 70%+ of the release price. Which is better than paying full price for shitty game. But if it sucks, it still sucks.

And many times the developers abandon the project afterwards. Or they cut down the features they promised. like DF9-Spacebase.