Video Game Crowdfunding Support is Stagnant

Yesterday, I took a moment to talk about the success of the Resident Evil 2: Board Game. The game got funded by fans with a massive $1 Million Dollars. Well, the great support this game got allowed some insight into the current world of crowdfunding as is. And actual video game Kickstarter projects are actually suffering at the moment.

Let’s start by where these statistics come from, this is a familiar firm named ICO Partners. Which publicized a study studying where the current public interest is in regards to crowdfunding projects.

Considering this, the world of crowdfunding projects has seen a very distinct divide. On one side, we see the video game Kickstarter projects that have literally stagnated in terms of support. On the other side, we see the Tabletop games that have been increasing in support.

The report also shows that Tabletop gaming is one of the most favored in Kickstarter. Since 2015, games like these have been showing huge amounts of success, with most of the goods actually delivered. However, video games are an entirely different story, even while 21 of the 50 most successful projects are games. The games don’t come out or are the worst thing ever (I’m looking at you Mighty.)

What’s the reasoning behind customers supporting Tabletop gaming? Well, one look at Gamesindustry’s speculation reveals quite a lot about the current state of crowdfunding. The list of video game projects that have failed to deliver is a long one. From Yogventures and Godus, through to the OUYA, confidence in developers to match consumer expectation has been shattered.

We shouldn’t forget the fact that Shenmue 3 got past the $2-Million-dollar target, for example. And then the developers decided to announce that they needed to reach $10 Million and it’s still not released. On top of that, Star Citizen got funded with over $2.1 Million and is yet to be released, after five years.

Truly, these numbers reflect the current state of crowdfunding. To be honest, I think this is for the best, it’s time that we say good-bye to video game crowdfunding because it almost always leads to dead ends. Besides, considering how abusive and leeching some companies can be, I was waiting until seeing Warner Brothers coming with a crowdfunding project.