So the guy is good and chummy with Microsoft, EA, and good number of other major studios that would flip this bill no problem. That or he could pay for it straight up out of his own massively deep pockets. But no, he’s using kick starter to fund a game and the sad part is that this will most likely work. It’s hard enough for indy developers as it is, but now we have major developers using and exploiting the communities’ own tools.
Do you know what the magical thing about kickstarter is? You can vote with your wallet.
No they wouldn’t foot the bill. Theres a reason established developers are turning to kickstarter. Publishers wouldn’t fund these projects without exacting their own ideas on it. Creative freedom wouldn’t exactly be allowed.
You know what I don’t get though. How it was cool for Tim Schafer, Brian Fargo, Obsidian etc to fund their projects on kickstarter. Now suddenly theres hate being directed at Molyneux, Braben and others about them wanting to fund their projects. Don’t like it? See above point about voting with your wallet.
There’s a big difference between Schafer or Fargo and Molyneux. And that difference is in the millions. Schafer and Fargo don’t have the money to flip their bills and they don’t have the friends that Molyneux has. Making a top selling RPG exclusively for one console tends to have that effect.
Yeah it’s kinda sad when the big guys who can afford the development still rely on KickStarter to ‘save’ on the development costs and get a free ticket.
I for one disagree with it, I believe KickStarter should genuinely be for those with innovative projects that NEED the funding.
Unfortunately that’s the way the world works, and Kickstarter too… put a big name behind it, with a big following, and it gets funded.
I had always say that kickstarter is a joke, since its rise and that if it becomes a success, big studios would buy to kill it or start to use it and kill the attempts of indie joe from no where… Folks at Gamasutra did defend Kickstarter eagerly… Look at what is going on since Tim Schafers success. And it wont stop.
Oh, and I now officially do not respect mr Molyneux anymore. He is picturing himself as a poor and ingenuous indie… F*king joke.
The guy is selling E3s vip passes on their kickstarter page… fuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Maybe Kickstarter is also a good way to judge a projects potential market and avoid going to the banks which are not lending due to the current economic situation.
I think it’s good as long as great games are made that would not otherwise be funded and created.
The problem is often it’s not the projects potential that makes the kickstarter successful, its the names behind the project and their huge fan and marketing base that gets them the backers.
I’m unsure where I stand with Molyneux, on the one hand I would like to think that kickstarter is for the more ‘independent’ developer, one who doesn’t have the industry contacts or the clout to get any real funding, but then you can’t simply dismiss that many of the ‘big name’ developers who’ve got funding have done so for games that are not widely publisher backed these days.
However I really didn’t like Braben’s Elite pitch. I loved Elite, i’d say its still in my top ten of all time games, but he has stated many times over the last decade that he was actively developing Elite 4, yet the kickstarter page was absolutely dire with nothing to really show. This lead me to believe that he never really was developing Elite 4, but instead simply living off the good will that the game provided. For that reason I decided not to back the game, I just don’t trust him anymore and doubtful that the kickstarter game would be anything more than original Elite with fancy new graphics, which you can already get in various incarnations.
Which brings me back to Molyneux. I could understand that perhaps a populous game couldn’t secure publisher funding (i’d be amazed if that’s true though especially since it is Molyneux) however his track record over the last decade has been pretty poor and so i’m just not sure what to expect. Unlike say Schafer who has a good track record and has continued to produce games that i’ve enjoyed playing and did support for the DFA.
As for kickstarter in general I think its grown over the last few years. Where it originally started as a means for crowd-sourcing creative projects, it is now seen by many as simply a new funding mechanism which can cut out the middle men. That in itself I’m more than happy with as publishers for far too long have dictated game development in particular. However this obviously pushes back truly independent developers down the money chain. Then again Kickstarter was never going to be the same once it reached a critical mass, when everyone and their dog started trying to get funding.
edit : wait … I’ve just read that on the KS page :
So Curiosity would have been a part of their funding projects for this game ? That’d explain the KS move, as Peter did walk away from Microsoft (therefore all “big boys”) with the intent to be independant.
Seems like he just want to start an indie adventure for real, after all, without the big boys, by classical indie funding methods (= small apps).
plus :
So Peter just wanted to gather “the good ol’ team”, which may not have been possible by big-boys terms.
Makes sense. Good luck 22cans then, wish you the best.
(and thinking about it, maybe it’s because they know how much money destroys everything that they wanted to go the indie route)
I don’t think the big boys should be using Kickstarter. They’ll reach their goal just because of the names behind the games. Many people are more likely now to donate to the project by the illustrious biggies than the newer indies. This is yet another way the big studios are suppressing indies. Molyneux doesn’t need the funding for this game. He is just using Kickstarter as a way to make a quick buck for the production rather than risking a dime out of 22cans’ large bank account. I agree with the OP. It’s awful that the big studios can still use Kickstarter when they already have enough funds. I say Kickstarter should put in a new clause in the license agreement saying that if a company makes money in excess of a certain amount, they are not allowed to use Kickstarter, similar to Unity’s requirement for buying pro after $100k.
Like most things where we skapegoat one individual and make then the cause of all suffering, Kickstarter itself is just a dumb website and if it weren’t for THE PEOPLE choosing and deciding to buy into these things it would be a total flop. It’s not Moly’s fault that people choose to follow him and give him their money. If they had a different set of requirements or values or whatever they wouldn’t back him. If they back him, they agree with him and support him, and there’s nothing you can do about that, and it’s not HIS fault. Remember dictators need society to support them and go along with them to allow them to have what seems to be their power - would Hitler have risen to his position if the people completely ignored him? Different story, perhaps… same principle. Stop making him wrong. You’re jealous when you say Kickstarter is sacred indie property, ie mine. It was never ours to begin with.
I think Kickstarter is a great idea, it allows people with shared interests to make something.
Lets face it ageing rock stars regularly go on tour to bring in money now music has gone digital, why shouldn’t ageing game developers go on Kickstarter, same difference: tickets/seating/perks.
These complaints always seem to sound like the poster is mad that “they’re taking potential money from me”. Truth is, these guys are the ones that are most likely to finish something. If Peter Molyneux wants to use Kickstarter to get funds, more power to him.
I’m amazed that Schafer, Fargo and Molyneux have all shared their financial information with the OP. Perhaps he is their accountant.
Are you saying that people with a history of success should be kept out of these channels for some arbitrary reason?
I understand the concern and the initial outrage, but I’d have thought that by now people would have mulled over the concept and be at peace with it. Mainstream developers coming to crowdfunding platforms helps make them more mainstream, which is good for us. Previously successful developers are, all in all, more likely to succeed than the average game Kickstarter. (I very much anticipate a wave of crashed micro-kickstarter game developments over the next 6 months or so. We’ve seen our first already, it will not be our last.) It gets the same benefits as any other kickstarted project - some market verification, some marketing, a relatively flexible budget (in relation to having a publisher sitting at the purse strings of a similarly sized budget), and so on.
Also, big game studios and/or big name developers aren’t necessarily as crazy rich as you’d assume. Sure, I expect Peter Molyneux to be fairly well off, but not necessarily enough to risk $700,000. And even rich guys often don’t put down 100% of the capital for a new venture on their own.
Maybe he wasted all his money on booze and hookers and burned his bridges after doping up and thinking he was god, now he has lost everything and longs to return to a more innocent time before the money destroyed him.