So a lot of people like Tim Schafer. 19,689 people to be precise, at the time I’m writing this. Perhaps yesterday you heard about this? In case you didn’t I’ll summarize: the folks at Double Fine productions don’t believe it’s possible to receive publisher funding for a “classic adventure game”-type game in 2012. Not going to happen. So instead, they reached out to so called “people” to fund their adventure dreams. $400,000 worth of funding, to be specific. Kotaku figured it wouldn’t take a week. Turns out it didn’t take a day.
Check out Double Fine’s “Kickstarter” page for all the details. Tim’s amusing plea video follows the break.
Email the author of this post at xtal@tap-repeatedly.com.
That was such a great video and this whole thing is just great. I also wish I was as funny as Tim Schafer.
This made me laugh a lot, especially in light of Ron Gilbert’s appearance in the vid:
“Pledge $30,000 or more:
Picture of Ron Gilbert smiling.
Pledge $35,000 or more:
Undoctored picture of Ron Gilbert smiling.”
Thanks for posting this xtal. I’ve sent money into a few kickstarter projects over the last year but this is the most exciting (and funny) pitch I’ve seen in a while. Seeing all the DOTT art in the background of this pitch gives me silly hope they can make something similar. Also, 30,000 opinionated gamers getting to tell Double Fine how they think the game should be made… What could go wrong?
I really wonder if this success will mean something for the future of the publisher/developer game creation model. Or if this is just a one-off stroke for Double Fine.
I love that Tim and Double Fine are doing this and that it’s been such a massive success so far. Thanks for posting this xtal, helping spread the word. Although there have been plenty of others attempting to fund game projects through services like Kickstarter, this is the first time I know of that such a luminary has graced that stage. It’s so cool my face is still frozen in a grin of impish pleasure. 😉
As Amanda points out, this could be a major thing for semi-independent developers with a good track record. Sure, an unknown couldn’t expect the kind of Kickstarter success that Double Fine got, but I can imagine it working for knowns. If the Mount & Blade people tried it, for example; or even the ruins of GSC Game World. Reasonable confidence that what Double Fine is going to make will be worth it fueled this. If Schafer had asked for a million, he probably would have gotten it. Plus, since this thing’s being documented (which they TOTALLY STOLE from our new Kermdinger Chronicles feature), viewers will understand the process much better. Six months down the road if Double Fine needs another $100K to finish, again, I think gamers would understand and pitch in.
I think Steerpike is bang on, I’m not sure it would work for unknown indies out there or companies with a sketchy history but any middle-weight developer with a proven track record could really make something of this idea. I’ve read countless comments over the last few years along the lines of “Here, take my money!!” and “I’m throwing money at my screen but nothing is happening!!” but this is the perfect way of capitalising on that willingness to support promising ideas. The future looks very bright to me.
Honestly I hope Schafer at least keeps doing this. I can think of others who’d be likely to succeed as well, though maybe not to the tune of $400K – Eric Chahi, Jenova Chen, Christine Love, Jon Blow, right off the top of my head; plenty of other small semi-indies too. The Project Zomboid guys. Maybe the Outcast.org guys. Arcen games.
Of course Double Fine hit a perfect moment. First, it’s Tim Schafer and everybody loves Tim Schafer. And of course this hadn’t been done, at least not in a high-profile way, before. In time I suppose it could peter out, but the whole concept of crowdsourcing a budget has proven successful. Look at Kiva. There are gamers out there who’d happily contribute $10-$30 to the development of a game they truly want, especially if the resultant product is priced below the standard $60 retail.
If Valve wants to corner another market, it should set up an in-Steam system to support this kind of thing. Then everybody’s margins would be incredible.
Truly, this is an exciting time. While the big-label publishers are still consolidating and there’re many complaints about the lack of innovation in retail games, this small culture of Super-Indies are not just innovating their work, they’re innovating ways to pay for it.
I really don’t have a feel for how much it costs to create a game, other than that games are made by people, and people require compensation (unless said games are not their day jobs). By far the biggest cost has to be salaries, yes?
How far could $400k go unless the team is super small, or unless this isn’t their only source? Someone educate me here.
Random thought: I’ve always harbored the suspicion that Gilbert is the true genius of the two.
In general you can expect a major commercial game to cost about $15-45 million, but there are many exceptions. For comparison, Skyrim’s budget was around $90 million; Schafer has said that Psychonauts’ budget was $15 million; GTA IV is estimated to have cost $150 million. It is not cheap to make a commercial game.
Often the largest individual expense is marketing, which includes ads and press junkets, swag to bribe lazy reviewers, E3 demos, all that. It’s not uncommon for the publisher to put 50% of a game’s budget toward marketing.
Salaries are certainly a large portion, but not necessarily the next largest. Tools (software, engine licensing, equipment), talent (mocap, voice actors, etc), art pipeline (concept, digital, 3D, animation) and so on also eat up a healthy share. If you look at a game like Uncharted 3, for example, they were in the mocap studio for I think 60 days, which is longer than principal photography on some feature films.
In a general sort of way, for a major commercial game with a middlin’ budget, you’re looking at a total of about 80-150 people working for 24-36 months. Again, every studio/publisher (and game project) is different. I’ve had clients who were doing commercial games for a million bucks.
So $400K is very modest for a commercial title, but that’s ameliorated by the fact that they’re doing a more straightforward (technologically) type of game. Double Fine used to be structured more towards large scale commercial titles, but right now the studio is set up for smaller, quicker-release projects. If Schafer wanted to do Psychonauts 2 rather than a point-and-click, he’s said he’d need about $20 million; perhaps the larger obstacle is that he’d have to restructure to suit a big game project developing in parallel with another (they’re still working on Sesame Street).
Ahh Marketing. I guess I was thinking purely development costs. Those are some significant numbers. I’m always amazed at how films even get made, what with all those disparate elements having to come together. Today’s video games inspire that same feeling.
I for one loved Psychonauts, but I don’t see it as a game begging for a sequel.
Update #1 from Mr. Schafer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFKwplDBmgg&feature=g-logo&context=G2ee0bd0FOAAAAAAAAAA
“So we got a little bit more money than we thought we were gonna get…”
Classic! It’s all about timing, people. Schafer’s is a dry, well-timed humor.
I’d love to see another Psychonauts, and I’m first to admit that point-n-click adventures aren’t my personal cup of tea, but I’ll be damned if I let Double Fine go down, whether or not I’m hyped up for their game. Just… please god, let it slip to 2013. My Log of Shame is bad enough already.
And our first convert to the Legendary Luminaries of Game Design Following in Schafer’s Kickstarter Footsteps is: Brian Fargo. Inspired by the funding success of Double Fine Adventure, Fargo is now in the embryonic stages of planning a proper sequel to the late ’80s grandfather of Fallout — Wasteland. He says he’s going to bring the project to Kickstarter in about a month. He’s aiming for a cool million.
http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/121/1218794p1.html
I was holding out until I heard those magical words, “Point and Click Adventure Game” then I caved. Okay then. If there are any QTEs I’ll want my money back though.