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you just described the steam/valve business model moondog Send a noteboard - 21/02/2012 06:24:01 AM
They wanted 400k to make a new game independent of major studios and set up a Kickstarter and within 48hrs they went miles past it and are currently at about 5 times their initial target and still have nearly a month to go.

I notice that the MINIMUM reward is a free copy of the game, plus a lot of bonus content that would not normally be available on copies purchased in stores or probably even online, all for $15. That is a win for everyone but the very big game companies they are consciously excluding from the process: Their sponsors get the game plus a lot of extras for no more (and probably much less) than it would cost in stores; a clear win. Meanwhile, the game creators need not deal with shipping, merchandising, promotion, licensing and all that other fun expensive stuff, so they get to keep any and all profits for themselves. Best of all, they need not commit to the projects time, effort and expense until donations have guaranteed the full cost of production will be met. Unless they badly miscalculate that cost, they literally cannot lose money.

Big Media and retailers can only watch in horror as the critical actors (content producers and consumers) make out like bandits cutting all middlemen out of the loop.


steam has been doing similar promotions for quite some time and are quite clearly the #1 online gaming repository because of it. this KS project is mostly about getting to have a small say in the production as it's being produced, which you can't really buy any place else ...yet
"The RIAA has shown a certain disregard for the creative people of the industry in their eagerness to protect the revenues of the record companies." -- Frank Zappa

"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman
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The Order of the Stick webcomic raises over $1million in 30 days on kickstarter! - 20/02/2012 01:07:37 AM 1024 Views
Holy fuck *NM* - 20/02/2012 01:22:15 AM 342 Views
I am unsure whether to be impressed or appalled. - 20/02/2012 07:41:31 AM 755 Views
The actors of Friends were making 1 million per episode in season 9 and 10 - 20/02/2012 02:41:24 PM 719 Views
I really wish I had $300 to spare. - 21/02/2012 06:23:07 PM 743 Views
impressed is the correct emotion here, thanks for playing! - 20/02/2012 03:05:56 PM 676 Views
Cool then. - 20/02/2012 08:32:37 PM 724 Views
Its like the Double Fine story from a few days days ago - 20/02/2012 05:59:31 PM 815 Views
That is very interesting in the context of the recent and ongoing piracy debates. - 20/02/2012 08:47:35 PM 765 Views
you just described the steam/valve business model - 21/02/2012 06:24:01 AM 702 Views
It sounds like it would be a good model even without piracy. - 21/02/2012 04:15:21 PM 603 Views
I helped - 21/02/2012 06:13:31 AM 841 Views
i think you mean "I participated!" - 21/02/2012 03:31:55 PM 751 Views
Pfft, whichever. - 21/02/2012 07:34:27 PM 957 Views
I did try singing the praise of Kickstarter here not long ago. *NM* - 23/02/2012 11:25:24 PM 318 Views

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