Games that are living on despite Kickstarter setbacks
If at first you don’t succeed …
Kickstarter recently boasted surpassing $1 Billion in pledges! Video games have played a big role in that huge milestone. Just think of how many Kickstarter funded games have released (or are releasing soon) on Nintendo hardware alone? All it takes is a recent example like Mighty, No, 9, which will be releasing on both Wii U and 3DS after securing nearly $4 million in pledges, to see that Kickstarter and video games mix well together.
For every success story however, there are those games that don’t make it. What happens to the projects that fail to hit their funding goals? What happens to the development teams behind those projects, usually small indie studios or relatively unknowns looking for a big break? All isn’t lost thankfully, and I’m going to highlight three recent Kickstarter games that live on despite their campaigns not reaching their goals.
Some Kickstarters that don’t make it turn to alternate sources of crowdfunding. One of these sources is Indiegogo, a popular choice that has some differences over Kickstarter. Among these are the option to refund all pledges if the goal isn’t met, or keep the money with a higher percentage fee. A recent example of a game seeking funding via Indiegogo is Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, which hopes to release on both the 3DS and Wii U.
Two recent Nintendo hopeful indie studios have moved from Kickstarter to Indiegogo – Kitatus and TreeFall. The former has brought their game Distro Horizons vs.Galaximos Army to the site, while the latter has a new, smaller project planned while work on Forbidden Sanctity is continued.
When we reported on Distro Horizons last month, Ryan Shah of Kitatus told Pure Nintendo that the game would be “a perfect fit for the Wii U”. He recently had this to share with us …
“We ended our Kickstarter and moved over to Desura in which players could pre-purchase the Windows, Mac and Linux versions of Distro Horizons, in return of receiving all future Alpha and Beta builds. In doing this, we not only receive the funding that we need, but we also can connect with the community in a way that was never possible with Kickstarter. Being able to get back feedback from every feature we implement / want to implement really has helped mold the project into something everyone wants (Not just us!), which means the eventual Wii U version will release in a complete state (not missing anything that would’ve been overlooked in development).
Kickstarter is good for many projects, but if people are looking at releasing video-game campaigns and want the best way to interact with the community, I highly recommend looking at other routes such as Desura”.
You can track the games progress on Desura by clicking this link.
Indiegogo is also home to “The Letter”, a project stemming from the Kickstarter game Forbidden Sanctity which drew the interest of nearly one hundred before its early cancellation. Creative Director Eli Brewer shared updated info about the game, and his Studios newest project with Pure Nintendo …
“Although Forbidden Sanctity did not take off like we hoped, the project is far from dead! We will be working on it over the next couple of months! The only way to do this is by our newest project, The Letter. The Letter is a game I am developing by myself and it will be available on the eShop rather soon. We are running an IndieGoGo campaign to achieve funds for this title which will help my team and I to continue to work on Forbidden Sanctity and other games in the future!
For those who have been doubting TreeFall’s capabilities and funding campaigns, well there are many things I can say to help convince you otherwise. We have a few titles available now to play on the PC. We have another PC title launching in a matter of weeks called Night Detective. We had previously said it should be available by now, but our publishing time frame has been slowed a little and it will be available soon! Nintendo has also been very helpful and supportive and before long we will have TheLetter on the Nintendo eShop! Hopefully that will add a little credibility to our name as you decide to contribute to The Letter campaign!”
Like Kitatus, TreeFall also has a presence on Desura – The Gem Collector is an earlier release from them. It’s a cute and enjoyable platformer than may appear on Wii U. You can check it out here.
The most recent Kickstarter game to live on despite funding failure is Space Pioneer. Nearly 800 backers pledged for the ambitious project, and Space Enigma Sudios says “we are still going to continue development on Space Pioneer”
“We are making an awesome gameplay trailer that should be out in roughly a month, and we will re-launch our Kickstarter when it’s ready.”
The project has its own dedicated website. Go to http://spacepioneer.org/ and follow the games development.
The success that Kickstarter has achieved can’t be overstated, and it’s role in the creation of games only appears to be growing. However its good to know that it isn’t the be-all and end-all for new studios. These three game projects, and others, are proof thereof.
