Chris Roberts has an atypically successful crowdfunding story -- but then again, as the creator of Wing Commander, he has an atypically successful career. As of this writing, his Star Citizen crowdfunding campaign has pulled in almost 20 million dollars, largely via his site, not Kickstarter.
Roberts did run a Kickstarter campaign -- which pulled in over 2 million dollars. It was, however, never part of his plans. "Basically, we actually started on our own," Roberts tells Gamasutra. "The whole idea was to build a community of space sim fans."
"I think we had about 30-odd thousand people sign up before they even know what I was going to announce," Roberts says. "The idea was to build a community for people that liked that kind of game, and then I didn't feel like they then wanted to have to go somewhere else to log in, give credentials somewhere else to give money. We were always intending to do our own crowdfunding."
Community was always his goal; the problem was that though he'd spent a year prototyping Star Citizen, its website was "hacky crap" and crashed on launch.
Still, he has little to regret now, and it goes without saying that Roberts is a huge proponent of crowdfunding. In this conversation, which took place at this year's Gamescom, he has nothing but positive things to say about it.
You may be surprised to hear that crowdfunding his project wasn't always his goal. Roberts' plans have shifted as he observes and reacts to trends among players and backers. Importantly, he now sees it as the only way he'd want to go, having both worked with traditional publishers and sought outside investment. Why? It frees him from meddling and distraction. He can make the game that he and his fans want.
Of course it's true that his success comes thanks to his previous games -- Wing Commander, Privateer, and Freelancer. But a built-in fan base is far from all that has carried him this far. In this interview, Roberts offers his insights into community building and crowdfunding, lessons useful to developers big and small.
Having had so much success, Roberts has some tips on how to do it right. One thing he is adamant about is that since you have to build your own site sooner or later, why not do it from the off?
"Kickstarter is very good for the community right at the beginning, but then afterwards you've got to have a solution, because it's not really a great place to interact. It doesn't have forums," Roberts says.
There's also no way to bring in new fans (and their contributions) if your campaign is over. "Our solution was always to have a place for the community to hang out, first and foremost. For them to get information about the game, to share how it's getting done. They would also be able to back the game, and new people would be able to come into it," Roberts says.
He also thinks that offering many physical rewards is largely an unnecessary complication. "Most people, when you back games, it's not really about the physical goods. It's about backing the game. They're actually quite happy to be backing this game they've missed for awhile, and the money's less of an issue. It's more of an issue of them having fun," he says.
That sense of "fun" is why Roberts goes primarily for in-game rewards. The first piece of the game that Roberts is distributing to fans, the Hangar Module, is affected by pledge level. Those who back at higher tiers get more ships and a bigger hangar.
"I would say that one of the reasons why we've raised this much money is that we've sort of gamified the backing," notes Roberts.
And while many crowdfunded games start from zero, Roberts suggests avoiding that if at all possible. Prepare as best as you possibly can. He spent a year doing a technical prototype -- though this is largely thanks to the fact that he was originally planning on seeking traditional investment.
"I actually wanted to work out all the issues. I wanted to scope it. I didn't want to just say, 'Oh, I can make this game!' I did a lot of my homework it was going to take, what budget, what engine I was going to use."
In the end, however, his efforts in pre-Kickstarter community building and pre-funding scoping and prototyping allowed him to launch his campaign to a massive response.
There's also one other very tangible result of running your own crowdfunding effort: "we're capturing 97 percent of the dollars that come in, because all we do is pay a fee to the credit card provider and PayPal," says Roberts.
Taken all together, Roberts has managed to build a huge, engaged community and link it into his funding efforts. The symbiotic relationship with his community has fundamentally changed Roberts' plans for developing and releasing his game.
Why? "Because I feel that people have given their money to this dream, helping me make the game I want to make, my dream game," says Roberts. "I think it's their dream game too. So I want to make sure they're constantly updated, seeing it, getting involved. Because that's the spirit -- for me, the spirit of crowdfunding is participation. The power."
Originally, Roberts wanted to pull a page from Minecraft's book, and have players pay for an alpha -- "like two years out," he says. But having an audience created a drive to "constantly show them what's happening. I think everything that's happening is cool, so I like to show it off."
His backers let Roberts build a game on his own terms, and he wanted to give them a peek behind the curtain.
Greg Quinn |
26 Sep 2013 at 1:02 am PST
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In this case, I don't see absolutely any benefit in having a publisher. He has the following, he has the name, and he has the money.
All the best to you Chris and your team on this project, may you make all us Wing Commander fans proud. |
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Garret Cashman |
Thanks for the article Christian.
As a backer (VB), it's very exciting to see how this is moving forward and how things are being dealt with along the way. Cloud Imperium Games are certainly forging new ground with this project and boldly going...(was that too much?) See you in the 'verse! |
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abbas saleem khan |
I think its fascinating that developers are able to 'create' their own markets and bypass the overheads that large publishers have. Yes, a publisher can help financially with the launch of a product and its core development by providing small developers access to tools, libraries and what not, but given that the "Space sim/space opera" video game market has been perceived to be dead since wing commander iv, this is a big kick in the face to that idea.
All the best for Chris and his team. |
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Harry Fields |
All it's going to take is one massive class-action for a project of this scope (though hopefully not this one--I grew up on Wing Commander!) falling through, not delivering and not having a solid enough legal net. At that moment, the floor will fall out of Crowdfunding for all but small indie projects. Not a popular stance, I realize, but it is then that everyone will be running back to a publisher (who can find one). Established markets are not disrupted and paradigms broken without a little metaphorical blood being spilled. It is at that moment that the whole concept of crowdfunding will be made or broken. Until then, Kudos to the vets getting "equity-free capital".
When you're looking at a million or a half, things slip through nets... 20 million, you really better have solid legal and accounting resources because guaranteed, the IRS is now looking at you through a whole new lens, as are publishers who are no longer getting a taste. The former wants to make sure they get as much as possible and the latter wants to torpedo this whole concept of cutting them out. The one I'm watching is Mighty No. 9. If Capcom doesn't obliterate Comcept through legal action, I'll be pleasantly surprised. I hope they let Keiji do his thing, but it all depends on the suits. If Kotick was in charge of Capcom... well.. yeah. All that said, it's early and the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet =D. |
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Taric Mirza |
Fantastic interview-- thanks Chris.
This relates to some of the feedback I've gotten too as a hobbyist/indie developer: go ahead and work on your web page with forums and try to recruit players as soon as possible. The early adopters will fully accept your game will be buggy and incomplete for a period of time, but as long as you actively engage with them and continue to make demonstrable progress, you can build up a community. |
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Mike Smith |
I am still not sure if crowdfunding is just a fad or is going to turn into a viable way to publish large, AAA games. Most (all?) of the big crowdfunding success stories have come from big names with previous success with a well known IP. I can't help but be skeptical that these people are using the crowdfunding hype and their reputations to cash in on a product that, in the end, will not matter if its a hit or miss, because it's already been paid for. I guess the pessimist in me is still waiting for the bubble to burst, because I just can't see how "backers" will continue to pour their money into hopes and dreams of someone else, especially after a few of these big name/big money projects fails. But hey, stranger things have happened.
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Mark Fronstin |
As a gamer I cannot wait to get my hands on the released game. Glad I upgraded to an i7. :)
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Bob Fox |
The reality is game developers and publishers aren't gods and get things wrong all the time, they start believing their own bullshit and become too focused on numbers and not possibilities because they've stopped taking risks and thinking hard.
There is lots of pent up demand for many old games that others have ruined: Many of us would like a new starfox game based on Starfox 1 / 64, or quite possibly assault if it was done by volition (aka combine saints row style game + starfox assault idea = awesome game). The problem with Nintendo is it has lost it's ability to maintain game quality. If I were Nintendo I would be creating spin offs of my properties. Have volition do a starfox game to reboot the franchise. Have the darksiders team take a crack at a Zelda spin off. This kind of thinking never occurs to Nintendo though, they are so out of touch with gamers. If anything crowdfunding proves that business people are out of touch with gamers and have been for a long time. Devleoper arrogance (aka typical of nerds) and lack of understanding of gamers themselves leads to all sorts of boneheaded cynicism which is not based in reality. |
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Jonathan Murphy |
I understand banks, rich investors have trillions of dollars locked away, but relying this much on the average consumer could have dire results. I could make 5 games with his budget! Perhaps I'm just being clouded by his massive war chest?
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Ron Dippold |
As a (low tier) backer, I was a bit dismayed at the low quality of the hangar release. It looked okay, but was buggy as hell.
At this point the game is really going to have to deliver. You've got no excuses. This needs to be the best first person space combat trading exploration game ever. |
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Matt Cratty |
All I hope is that this convinces publishers that its time to recall a time when people, many of whom now have college degrees and savings accounts, deeply loved niche games.
And we're willing to pay almost anything for those games. But, you don't have to remember that part if you don't want. |
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bob roberts |
Hangar, hanger, it's all the same. You say potato, I say tomato. >_<
Seriously, this game had better have a coat rack with a hanger in it inside the hangar just because. |
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