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Crowdfund Bookie, winter quarter: Hibernation
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. Money spent on crowdfunded games dropped 51.1 percent in the three-month period of December 2013 through February 2014. In this winter quarter, 76 projects received a total of $6,138,890, which compares unfavorably to the combined $12,543,198 in funding for the fall quarter (September through November 2013). While the funding space squeaked by in December and took a nosedive in January, it gained a little ground in February in terms of dollars spent, with $2,961,953 pledged in that month alone, which stands well with other months we've tracked dating back to June 2013. The catch, and where the trend continues to be a concern, comes from the number of projects and backers overall. Only 16 projects were funded during February, and 20 in January. The average number of successful projects per month from June through December was just over 32, so roughly half the number of projects are being funded on Kickstarter and Indiegogo at this stage. One of February's few funded projects was the wildly successful Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Kingdom Come earned $1,842,218 thanks to 35,384 backers. Without that game's contributions, February would have amounted to $1,119,735 in pledges from 28,355 backers. Looking at January's figures as well, there's a clear downward trend in crowdfunding at the moment. Whether it was a lack of enticing projects, a stack of holiday bills or just the winter doldrums, something kept backers from adding their two cents to crowdfunding. The median, or middle points in the data set for the quarter point to a positively-skewed distribution as well, and gives a better indicator of how much projects actually earn when compared to mean averages. When comparing the median averages to the previous six months, we find that more backers (616 versus 542) are funding fewer projects, and at a lower spending amount ($18,087 versus $25,188). Unless the crowdfunding space has simply gone into hibernation and will return to life in the spring, the next few months may prove more difficult for project creators than in the past. Head past the break for a list of the quarter's top ten earners as well as a breakdown by genre.
Unsung Story fundraising continues on PayPal
Unsung Story developer Playdek finished its Kickstarter campaign for the game on February 14, pulling in $660,126 for its $600,000 base funding goal. Stretch goals for the tactical RPG are currently beyond the raised funds, but Playdek has opened PayPal donations for fans that want to change that. Donations won't be based on charity, of course - available rewards include copies of the game, posters, soundtracks, beta access and in-game content. The PayPal page states that the current bundles will be available for two weeks, after which Playdek will "change out the packages." Various stretch goals include a New Game+ mode, co-operative play, a map creator, ports to the PS4, 3DS and Vita and more. You can check the required funding amounts for each by scrolling down Unsung Story's Kickstarter page. As it stands, the game is being developed for PC, Mac and Linux and will be ported to iOS and Android devices. Final Fantasy Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno and Bravely Default Art Director Akihiko Yoshida are among the Playdek team, which estimates to deliver Unsung Story to backers in July of 2015. [Image: Playdek]
Final Fantasy Tactics director will get his Unsung Story
Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story Director Yasumi Matsuno's episodic tactical-strategy game Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians has been successfully funded through Kickstarter. The Kickstarter campaign earned Unsung Story developer Playdek a total of $660,126. While the successful funding ensures Unsung Story will release for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android in 2015, the campaign failed to reach the $1 million goal necessary for a PS Vita port, let alone the more expensive milestones needed for ports on PS4 and 3DS. Prior to Unsung Story's launch in 2015, Playdek plans to release two digital card games set within the Unsung Story universe. The developer is also exploring the idea of cross-platform play in Unsung Story, but Playdek has yet to confirm the feature for any platform. [Image: Playdek]
Each episode of Unsung Story tells the tale of a different warrior
Unsung Story will launch episodically, with four to six stages per episode, designer Yasumi Matsuno says in a Kickstarter update. Each episode will revolve around a different character, but all of them are warriors in a great, fantastical uprising. Matsuno plans to launch with five episodes, making for roughly 25 playable stages in total. "The story of each of these heroes is what we're calling an episode," Matsuno says. "By joining them in their battles that span the course of the war, players will see for themselves if these heroes are truly worthy of the glory history has accorded them. While there are five episodes, each revolving around a separate hero, planned for launch, while the game is live, we intend to continue expanding various game systems and bringing out additional episodes that showcase these systems." There are three character classes in Unsung Story: warrior, mage and monster. On top of that, the game has five class types, each with its own leveling system: attackers, defenders, mages, healers and tamers. The game is turn-based and values speed, and it will play similarly to Final Fantasy Tactics, Matsuno says. Unsung Story has until Valentine's Day to raise $140,000 on Kickstarter and reach its $600,000 goal. That's 11 days away, for those interested in the campaign and those who need a reminder to buy flowers. [Image: Playdek]
Longtime Square Enix artist Akihiko Yoshida joins Unsung Story team
Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians, the tactical RPG from Level-5 and Square Enix veteran Yasumi Matsuno, will feature the character artwork of Akihiko Yoshida. The news comes from an update on the project's Kickstarter page, which revealed an excerpt of the game's story as well. Yoshida departed Square Enix in December after an 18-year stint during which he provided art and character designs for games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story alongside Matsuno, as well as Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy XII and Bravely Default. Unsung Story is seeking $600,000 on Kickstarter by February 14 in order to continue development. With 16 days left to hit its goal, more than 10,000 people have pitched in $438,947 to the project, which has multiple $1 million-plus stretch goals to reach platforms like Vita, PS4 and 3DS.
Matsuno's Unsung Story shuffles handheld stretch goals, adds PS4 port
Unsung Story publisher Playdek has reorganized its Kickstarter stretch goals in response to backer feedback, giving the game's PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS ports higher priority over other previously-announced funding milestones. If funding reaches $1 million, Playdek will begin production on a PlayStation Vita port, and will hire on Final Fantasy 12 composer Hitoshi Sakimoto to score the project. Playdek additionally announced that a PlayStation 4 version of Unsung Story will be developed if funding reaches $1.25 million. A total of $1.5 million will ensure development of a Nintendo 3DS port. Helmed by Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story director Yasumi Matsuno, Unsung Story will bring its unit-focused tactical strategy gameplay to Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android platforms in 2015. Playdek is currently exploring the possibility of cross-platform play. Unsung Story's Kickstarter currently sits at just under $400,000 earned toward its initial funding goal of $600,000, with 23 days left in the campaign.
Matsuno tactics RPG Unsung Story seeks more platforms via Kickstarter
Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy 12 designer Yasumi Matsuno's new tactics RPG could come to PC and Mac if a newly launched Kickstarter proves successful. Developer Playdek says it will release Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians on iOS and Android regardless of the crowdfunding campaign, but the studio hopes now to raise $600,000 to turn the page onto Windows PC, Mac, and Windows tablets, then 3DS and Vita via stretch goals. The game's spread across platforms might not end there, as Playdek CEO Joel Goodman told Joystiq. According to Playdek's press release, the San Diego studio will also use the $600,000 to "deepen the content and add to its creative 'dream' team." With "Kickstarter funds and stretch goals," Playdek wants to bring in FF Tactics and FF12 composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, as well as translators Alexander Smith and Joseph Reeder of Kajiya Productions, who've worked on the Final Fantasy and Phoenix Wright series and Matsuno's Vagrant Story. Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians is due on iOS and Android next year, and it features a "completely envisioned Matsuno world" according to Goodman. The game is centered around the "77 Years War," a multi-layered conflict that draws inspiration from the wars of 16th and 17th century Europe, and the fractured rule of Saxon Britain. The game's name derives from Matsuno wanting to focus on the more ordinary heroes of war who come to the fore in the gameplay. As for that aspect, Matsuno has said we can expect Unsung Story to play somewhat similarly to FF Tactics, which he directed.
Console releases for Matsuno's Unsung Story may be dictated by cross-platform play
Yasumi Matsuno's Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians features cross-platform online play, and that may affect which platforms it comes to. The tactics game from the Vagrant Story director is only confirmed for iOS and Android curently, but developer Playdek is definitely looking at other platforms, and their policies towards cross-platform play. We asked Joel Goodman, CEO of tabletop studio Playdek, whether or not that could close off the game from certain platforms. "It potentially could and it potentially couldn't," Goodman said. "We're not speaking [about] any secrets here, we know for some platforms that will be more feasible to do than on others. At that point, then, we'll have to look at it and say, well, what's the more important part here? Is it that we end up with a platform that has a pragmatic community, and we don't want to do that, or that it's well worth it because it's still a gaming community that we want to address and make sure that they get this product as well." Asked if it was fair to say it sounded like he was talking about previous-gen and current-gen consoles, Goodman replied, "That would be fair." Well, then.
