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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.
Gridiron Thunder delayed to October 30 after dropping Ouya deal
Gridiron Thunder, the Kickstarted game that dropped out of Ouya's Free the Games Fund after weeks of controversy, has been delayed to October 30. It was originally scheduled to launch on September 30, but on September 29, developer MogoTXT updated the Kickstarter: "Because we recently chose not to participate in the Free The Games Fund, we are no longer bound by the exclusivity requirement of the program and can make Gridiron Thunder available on all Android and iOS phones and tablets, in addition to the Ouya. In order to make Gridiron Thunder fully cross-platform, we have decided to postpone the launch of the game until October 30." Gridiron Thunder raised $171,009 on Kickstarter and would have received matching funds from Ouya, had it remained in Free the Games Fund. The game raised suspicion during its campaign when backers noticed odd, large funding spikes. The average pledge per person ended at $934.48, much higher than the standard average pledge of $50.59 per person, or even that of a comparable project, $275.05 per person. When Ouya overhauled Free the Games Fund on September 18, MogoTXT announced it had voluntarily dropped out of the program, since it had raised enough money to launch on its own. "Gridiron Thunder is coming along very well and looking great," MogoTXT writes in its most recent update. "Thanks for your patience and get ready for a great game!"
Crowdfund Bookie September 2013: The best of times, the worst of times
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 month of September embodied the best and, arguably, the worst crowdfunding has to offer video games. On the positive side of things, September saw the birth of Project Phoenix, the month's highest-funded game ($1,014,600). The RPG-meets-RTS features an all-star crew, including Lead Composer Nobuo Uematsu, Art Director Kiyoshi Arai and Director/Producer Hiroaki Yura, each with ties to the Final Fantasy series as well as Diablo 3 and Valkyria Chronicles. September will also be remembered as the month that Ouya's Free the Games Fund left its mark on crowdfunding. One game in the program, Gridiron Thunder, was accused of unfairly bolstering its own campaign by self-funding it past the $100,000 mark in order to earn rewards offered by Ouya. The hardware company's program fell under great scrutiny before being overhauled, at which point developer MogoTXT removed Gridiron Thunder from Free the Games Fund eligibility. As an example of the discrepancy in funding, Evelend Games' action platformer Indiegogo project AdventurOS had over ten times as many funders as Gridiron Thunder (1,899 versus 183), yet the Ouya football game earned over eight times as much money as AdventurOS ($171,009 versus $21,323). Additionally, removing Gridiron Thunder from the action genre for the month takes the category's average pledge per backer rate down from $44.19 to $34.31. As seen in our latest quarterly report, it only takes a few projects like Gridiron Thunder to shape the community's perception of entire crowdfunding platforms like Indiegogo and Kickstarter. While September saw the same number of successful projects (29), the $2,211,975 raised by 40,701 funders were down by $764,575 and 23,218 people from the previous month, and were the lowest amounts seen in the last four months. It's unclear whether potential community distrust thanks to controversial projects like Gridiron Thunder or the release of big retail games, such as the recent launch of Grand Theft Auto 5 will have a bigger impact on crowdfunding in the coming months. Head past the break to see the month's breakdown by genre as well as a list of September's top five projects.
Crowdfund Bookie, September 8 - 14: Project Phoenix, StarCraft Universe
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. This week in crowdfunding, the Kickstarter campaigns for Project Phoenix, Gridiron Thunder, StarCraft Universe and Pro Pinball: Timeshock ended. Project Phoenix earned the most money and had the highest number of backers by a landslide this week, hauling in $1,014,600 thanks to 15,802 funders. Gridiron Thunder, the Ouya football game that has been embroiled in controversy with its involvement in Ouya's Free the Games Fund, had the highest average pledge per person ($934.48). This was due to a handful of suspicious backers that each pledged over $10,000 to the project. Head past the break to see the week's results and pretty charts.
Gridiron Thunder to launch September 30
Gridiron Thunder will launch September 30 on Ouya, MogoTXT CEO Andrew Won told Joystiq. The football game recently received $171,009 on Kickstarter from just 183 backers, raising questions among the crowdfunding community. Won denied any ongoing scrutiny over the project. "Kickstarter conducted a full investigation and found nothing wrong with our campaign. This is conclusive and our campaign came to a successful close last Sunday," Won said. "I've answered the same question many times and I have nothing more to add. There is nothing left to discuss." Gridiron Thunder is part of Ouya's Free the Games Fund, designed by the console manufacturer to stimulate Ouya development by matching funds raised from the Kickstarter community of at least $50,000. Developers must promise at least six months of Ouya exclusivity before receiving the full reward from the program. Gridiron Thunder was one of two games that were successfully funded as part of the program, the other being Elementary, My Dear Holmes, which was suspended by Kickstarter late last week.
Gridiron Thunder Ouya Kickstarter concludes with $171k, many questions
Gridiron Thunder's Kickstarter project ended over the weekend, earning $171,009 in its 30-day campaign. Gridiron Thunder was under suspicion when it first met its funding goal in late August, thanks to curious funding spikes witnessed by backers. To reach its goal, it received more than $10,000 apiece from a limited number of funders, as revealed by Kicktraq. It was one of two games that reached its goal as part of Ouya's Free the Games Fund, a program that rewards successful Kickstarter project creators by matching the crowdfunding results in exchange for six months of Ouya exclusivity. The game had just 183 total backers, making for a rate of $934.48 per person. In recent months, the closest any project has come to that average is Yargis, which had an average of $275.05 per backer thanks to a lone $5,000 pledge. The results of 84 projects in the past three months revealed a mean average of $50.59 pledged per person, making Gridiron Thunder a statistical anomaly. The other Ouya game in question, Elementary, My Dear Holmes, was suspended by Kickstarter on Friday after the developer addressed concerns to both Kickstarter and Amazon surrounding "suspicious accounts" that backed the project. The game's creator, Sam Chandola, said the developer "wanted to get on top of this and did not want anything to do with any of what was happening as it was an extremely negative campaign for us." Kickstarter declined to comment on the project's suspension.
Ouya Free the Games Fund project 'Elementary, My Dear Holmes' suspended by Kickstarter
The crowdfunding campaign for Elementary, My Dear Holmes was suspended by Kickstarter today. The point-and-click adventure game had already reached its $50,000 goal, earning $58,770 before its suspension, days before it was slated to end on September 13. The reasons for the project's suspension by Kickstarter are unclear, though the developer said it addressed concerns regarding "suspicious accounts" that supported the game. "When the uproar against Elementary, My Dear Holmes was brought up, we contacted Kickstarter and Amazon, asking them to investigate the accounts and take action accordingly," the game's creator Sam Chandola told backers. "We wanted to get on top of this and did not want anything to do with any of what was happening as it was an extremely negative campaign for us. Strong personal accusations were going up against us, and it was a huge drain on our time, energy and resources." Ouya announced its $1 million Free the Games Fund program in July as a means of encouraging developer support of its console by offering monetary rewards for successful Kickstarter-funded games that vow to remain Ouya-exclusive for six months. Elementary, My Dear Holmes was one of two games that reached its funding goals last week as part of the program. The other game, Gridiron Thunder, fell under scrutiny for the amount of funding it received from just 126 backers. According to Ouya, the project "successfully qualified to receive the match," and is still up on Kickstarter, sitting at $114,437 from 161 funders with 46 hours before the campaign ends.
First two Ouya 'Free the Games' projects meet funding goals [Update]
The first two games from Ouya's Free the Games promotion have been funded on Kickstarter. Gridiron Thunder, a football game that uses official NFL licensing, reached its $75,000 goal with 13 days left in its campaign. The other funded game, Elementary, My Dear Holmes met its $50,000 goal with 17 days left. Developed by Vancouver-based Victory Square Games, point-and-click adventure game Elementary, My Dear Holmes has players investigating mysteries not as the famous Baker Street sleuth, but as his faithful companion John Watson. Ouya's $1 million Free the Games campaign has the company matching funds for successfully Kickstarted projects that earn at least $50,000. Ouya will match up to $250,000 for an individual project, the trade-off being that each game must remain Ouya-exclusive for six months. The company said more than 40 games have been submitted for the program, and 11 campaigns are live, including that of Gridiron Thunder and Elementary, My Dear Holmes. Update: We've contacted both Ouya and Kickstarter regarding Gridiron Thunder's legitimacy, as the project's $78,259 came from just 126 backers, with some suspect funding spikes as tracked by Kicktraq. We will update as we learn more. Update #2: Ouya responded with a statement to Joystiq, saying that "based on our program's guidelines, the team behind Gridiron Thunder have successfully qualified to receive the match and we couldn't be more excited to see them bring their game along with their supportive community to Ouya."
