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Unannounced Double Fine game canceled, 12 staff let go
Double Fine, the development studio behind games like Broken Age and Costume Quest 2, has been hit with a wave of layoffs. Gamasutra reports that 12 staff were let go after an unannounced project fell through with a publisher, though the studio will continue its work on other games unimpeded. "Our remaining projects - Broken Age, Massive Chalice, and Grim Fandango Remastered, were unaffected," studio founder Tim Schafer told Gamasutra. Neither the publisher in question nor the reason for the unannounced game's cancellation were disclosed. [Image: Double Fine]
Double Fine's Massive Chalice pours onto Steam Early Access
Massive Chalice, a tactical strategy game from Costume Quest developer Double Fine, has poured itself a glass and chosen to sit at the Steam Early Access table. To celebrate the game's soft launch, Double Fine is going to take a little foam off the top for you: from now until November 18, Massive Chalice will be discounted from the usual cost of $29.99 to $22.49. Much like Broken Age, Double Fine's other ... erm, massive crowdfunding success story, Massive Chalice began its life as a Kickstarter dream. By the time its campaign closed, Double Fine had raised $1.2 million dollars to develop the game. Later, it was announced that Massive Chalice would be coming to the Xbox One in 2015 as part of Microsoft's ID@Xbox program. [Image: Double Fine]
An influx of Xbox One indies: Superhot, Goat Simulator [UPDATE: Many trailers added!]
Microsoft's indie development initiative, ID@Xbox, is bringing in a bunch of games to launch first on console on Xbox One, including Superhot, Goat Simulator, Dungeon of the Endless, No Time to Explain and Smite. Peek the full list of games ID@Xbox head Chris Charla announced during the Xbox Gamescom press conference below:
Crowdfund Bookie: One year, $35 million
The Crowdfund Bookie crunches data from select successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that ended during the month and produces pretty charts for you to look at. A total of 341 video game projects were funded on Kickstarter and Indiegogo in the past year. Those games earned $35,945,510 from June 2013 through May 2014 thanks to the generosity of 782,147 people. It was a year that saw games like Double Fine's Massive Chalice and Keiji Inafune's Mighty No. 9 pull in over $5 million alone. The crowdfunding year was marked by projects like these which, when measured over time, consistently tipped impressions of average Kickstarter and Indiegogo earnings to appear more favorable. The 341 projects in question earned a mean average of $105,412, though creators really earned closer to the median average of $25,457. Removing the more costly projects drags the mean average of money earned down towards that mark; it drops to $61,152 without the top ten projects for the year, $45,153 without the top 20 and $37,862 without the top 30. It was an ever-changing year, as well. Just glancing at the monthly comparison charts after the break shows a gradual decline in most categories, such as the average amount an individual project backer spent on a given project. The first three months of the year saw an average of $49.40 pledged per person, which dropped to $39.80 in the last quarter of the year. This reflects the averages for the entire year; the year showed a mean average of $45.96, though funders spent closer to the median amount of $36.10. By the end of the year, fewer projects earned far beyond their initial goals, potentially reaching fewer stretch goals as a result. The first quarter of the year averaged an earning rate of 211 percent, over double the amount of money projects set out to achieve. The final three months amounted to 166 percent of the combined goals, even after the average combined goals per month dropped $453,639. Relative to their ambitions, project creators earned more to start the year than those whose games were funded late in the year. The year also featured a number of fascinating stories in the crowdfunding space. It included the highly-questionable campaign for Gridiron Thunder and the related fallout of Ouya's Free the Games Fund program. More recently, it looked favorably on Harmonix's new Amplitude game, which was an anomaly among crowdfunded games. Head past the break for another look at the year in crowdfunding, including the top 20 projects and the year's breakdown by genre.
Massive Chalice runneth over onto Xbox One
Massive Chalice, Double Fine's turn-based strategy game, is coming to Xbox One as a console exclusive in early 2015. The added Xbox One launch will not impact the game's scheduled PC release – for Kickstarter backers first. "We thought we'd kick out a quick update to clear up any confusion that this might cause," Double Fine writes in a Kickstarter update. "Nothing has changed with our plans to bring Massive Chalice to the PC and to make it available for our backers first. YEAH! During this time we'll be porting the game to the Xbox One."
Crowdfund Bookie: $23 million raised in six months
The Crowdfund Bookie crunches data from select successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that ended during the month and produces pretty charts for you to look at. The past six months have proven fruitful for crowdfunded games. In total, 186 different Indiegogo and Kickstarter video game projects earned $23,914,666 from the months of June through November. Those numbers are courtesy of 500,467 backers in the six-month period, who raised $13,173,182 beyond the combined goals of the projects to reach stretch goals that will bring games to additional platforms and grant players more content. On average, crowdfunding projects raised $128,573 in the last six months, but as we examined in our last quarterly report, these mean averages can be quite misleading. By comparison, the median, or middle number in the data set for the amount of money raised by each of the 186 projects, is $25,188. Given that only six of the projects raised at least one million dollars, and just seven more raised at least $500,000 during that time frame, we can conclude that the average amount of money raised by crowdfunding projects in the last six months is positively skewed. Similarly, the median number of backers per project was 542 (a sharp contrast to a mean average of 2,691). Future project creators should take note, then: Your average Kickstarter or Indiegogo gaming project earns closer to $25,188, not $128,573. Additionally, the data shows that strategy games like Hex and Warmachine: Tactics led the genre to the top of the list, as they earned the most money of the group ($6,901,527). Conversely, the adventure genre had the most successful projects, as 46 adventurous or narrative-driven games were funded in the last six months, such as Obduction and Armikrog. Action games had the highest number of backers (145,316), thanks especially to the highest-earning game of the group, Keiji Inafune's Mighty No. 9, which hauled in $3,845,170 thanks to 67,226 people. Head past the break to see the top-earning games and breakdown by genre for the six-month period.
Double Fine, friends gather to demo games at Day of the Devs
Double Fine is gathering some of its indie friends together next month for an event called Day of the Devs, a public showcase in San Francisco that will see Double Fine, Tribute Games, Gaijin, Capybara Games, Supergiant, Honeyslug, iam8bit and Chris Hecker in attendance. "It all started with us just wanting to show Broken Age to our backers and fans," Double Fine brand manager Greg Rice told Joystiq during a phone interview. "And we knew that if we were going to invite those people out, we were going to need a larger space – so we figured if we had the space, we might as well invite some of our friends to show their games." Day of the Devs was concocted as a simple gathering that wouldn't force developers to plan and detract from their own development schedules, Rice went on to say. Developers just show up and demonstrate what they've been working on to anyone willing to attend.
Crowdfund Bookie Quarterly Report: Looks can be deceiving
The Crowdfund Bookie crunches data from select successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that ended during the week and produces pretty charts for you to look at. Crowdfunding platforms like Indiegogo and Kickstarter are golden tickets to over $100,000. At least, that's what one might surmise when looking at the results from projects tracked during the months of June through August. A total of $11,371,468 funded 84 projects during the quarter, and while that averages out to $135,375 earned per project, the numbers are painting a skewed picture, one more positive than the truth. As discussed in August's report, there are times in which extreme samples from top earners like Hex and Massive Chalice can skew the resulting numbers, affecting our perception of how evenly spread these monthly totals are. The mean average of funding for projects in the last quarter is $135,375, but the median, or middle data point in the set, is $27,753. Analyzing both the mean and median averages indicates that the data is positively skewed, being severely affected by a few projects that made millions of dollars. It tells us that crowdfunded projects may truly earn less on average than at first glance. It might also tell future project creators that aiming for the mean average as a funding goal may be projecting their earnings too high, based on recent history. This translates to the average pledge per person as well. The mean average pledge per person in the quarter's projects is $50.59, while the median is $32.35. This indicates that your average crowdfunding backer probably spent closer to $32 than $50 on any given project. Millions of dollars didn't just fund 84 games in this quarter of the year either, as $6,046,567 of that money was beyond the combined crowdfunding goals of the projects. That means 53.17 percent of money pledged to successful crowdfunding initiatives between June and August was in excess, funding additional content and reaching stretch goals for additional platform support. Still, crowdfunders looking to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars from their video game project should be better prepared to earn closer to $20,000, and would be wise to adjust their goals accordingly. This is just our first quarter of tracking crowdfunding trends, so expect more analysis as the year continues. Head past the break to see the quarter's top ten projects, its breakdown by genre and pretty charts with the results from the last three months.
Crowdfund Bookie June 2013: $3.1 million in gravy
The Crowdfund Bookie crunches data from select successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that ended during the week and produces pretty charts for you to look at. If June's numbers are to be believed, backers of game projects on Kickstarter and Indiegogo are more than happy to keep donating long after initial goals are met. For the month of June in crowdfunding, 23 video game projects raised a total of $5,594,469, thanks to the contributions of 97,954 people; 55.69 percent ($3,115,579) of that money was beyond the combined goals of those 23 projects. This helped games like Armikrog reach stretch goals for things such as a Wii U port. A case can be made that reaching stretch goals for additional content and platforms is important to funders, and may also explain the month's higher average pledge amount of $57.11. The average backer in June spent nearly enough on crowdfunding as if they'd bought a brand-new retail console game. In some cases, it guaranteed players bonus content or DRM-free versions of the games they helped fund, which isn't as common with regular retail purchases. This sets the foundation for an argument that crowdfunding a game's development could be of better value to the end consumer.
Crowdfund Bookie, June 23 - 29: Massive Chalice, Armikrog, A Hat in Time
The Crowdfund Bookie crunches data from select successful Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that ended during the week and produces pretty charts for you to look at. The Kickstarter campaigns for Massive Chalice, Armikrog, A Hat in Time, Our Darker Purpose, Afterland, Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet and Siegebreakers concluded this past week and there was much money to be had. Double Fine's Massive Chalice earned the most moola this week ($1,229,015), and had the most backers of the group, with 31,774 people funding the project. Afterland had the highest average pledge per person, with each funder averaging a $73.29. Take a gander at the results and our fancy charts after the break.
Double Fine's Massive Chalice finishes Kickstarter campaign with $1.2 million
Double Fine's Massive Chalice has finished its Kickstarter campaign, funding the project and earning a total of $1.2 million (minus Kickstarter's various fees) for production. In addition to the core game, which sounds like an intriguing mix of turn-based strategy and large-scale kingdom building, the team promised to grow the project's scope based on the funding received rather than rely on stretch goals. Other features and platforms will be determined as the project goes along. Development is being led by the smiley Brad Muir, above, who also designed tower-defense shooter Trenched, later called Iron Brigade. This is Double Fine's second successful Kickstarter; the first was the Adventure Game project, which resulted in the upcoming Broken Age. Massive Chalice's $1.2 million isn't quite as big as the $3.3 million earned for the game that became Broken Age, but the latest project began with a goal of $725,000, much larger than the Adventure Game's initial goal of $400,000. Massive Chalice will now start production, so it'll likely be a while before we see the game ready for release.
Brad Muir on building trust with Double Fine's Massive Chalice
Double Fine is using a second (and already successful) Kickstarter to produce "Massive Chalice," an ambitious turn-based strategy game that hinges on the lineage of your kingdom. Project lead Brad Muir is candid about the early delta between the game's promises – allowing you to produce and raise multiple generations of heroes in a war against demons – and the reality anticipated by those committed to its crowdfunding drive, which exists independently of that for Broken Age. "We're gonna mess up in public, and that's a little bit scary, but it's also like – I think it helps build trust too," Muir told me during E3 last week. "We're totally fallible, and we're gonna trip up, but we'll figure it out and we're gonna make the game the best game it can be." Muir also responded to fears from backers who have yet to see the fruition of Double Fine's previous Kickstarter project, Broken Age, and expressed enthusiasm over developing a game with "the doors wide open on the studio."
Double Fine's Massive Chalice to feature same-sex relationships
Double Fine's crowdfunded strategy-RPG Massive Chalice will include same-sex relationships and marriage as part of its generation-based gameplay, developer Brad Muir revealed while talking with Rock Paper Shotgun. Muir notes that feedback from Kickstarter backers inspired his team's decision to include same-sex options. "We did not talk about [the possibility of gay marriage] until we launched the Kickstarter," he told RPS. "We were so focused on pure pragmatic mechanics and how it would work and coupling and all these things that we hadn't [considered it]." "One of the cool things is we have the opportunity to think about it and address it because we brought it to the community," Muir continued. "We brought it to a broader group of people, and then there were some people who brought it up and wanted to talk about it. There's a raging thread on our forums." Muir previously expressed a desire to have an equality between sexes in this video discussing Massive Chalice's design. "We wanted to make [gameplay] sex-agnostic," Muir said. "[Both sexes are] both going to be super-badass on the battlefield, killing demons together." Muir notes that same-sex gameplay aspects may have never been considered, had Double Fine opted for traditional publisher-driven development. "We might just overlook something like same-sex coupling all the way until we announce the game." he told RPS. "If somebody did think about it during that whole thing, they would've probably just killed it because it is such a controversial issue. They'd probably not want to have it associated with the game at all." Massive Chalice met its funding goal earlier this month, and its Kickstarter campaign will conclude on June 27.
Double Fine's Massive Chalice brims with achieved funding
Massive Chalice achieved its Kickstarter goal today, goblet-ing up $725,000 of funding in just five days. While Double Fine's second Kickstarter game hasn't lit the touchpaper like its first one, Massive Chalice found almost 20,000 backers to get it funded with 23 days left. That means Double Fine will bring the fantasy turn-based strategy game to Windows, Mac, and Linux. According to the Kickstarter Page, Double Fine is targeting to release it by September 2014. The studio has plans for stretch goals, but hasn't announced any yet. The game itself is headed up by Iron Brigade creator Brad Muir, and sees players employ a number of heroes across a campaign that spans generations, with permadeath "inevitable" due to age. Double Fine says Massive Chalice is "built for replayability," Each playthrough features a random selection of heroes, and its intricacies will change depending on player decisions and the "whims of fate." Meanwhile, work continues on Broken Age, the studio's first Kickstarter game. Double Fine says a separate internal team will be working on Massive Chalice.
Double Fine Kickstarts PC strategy game Massive Chalice
Double Fine has launched a Kickstarter project for Massive Chalice, a feudal fantasy-themed tactical strategy game for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Headed up by Iron Brigade creator Brad Muir, Massive Chalice boasts a multi-generational single-player campaign in which heroes grow old and die as the story progresses. Taking inspiration from roguelikes, Massive Chalice procedurally generates unique characters and alliances during each playthrough, and permadeath ensures that player choices have weight and impact. Double Fine's Tim Schafer assures that work continues on the developer's previous Kickstarter success story, Broken Age, but notes that a separate internal team can begin work on Massive Chalice once it's successfully funded. Massive Chalice's funding goal is set at $725,000.
