Double Fine's Kickstarter success shows sometimes games are too cheap
22.05.12
Are publishers not charging enough for video games?
This past Thursday, video game industry veteran Tim Schafer (Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion) and his team at Double Fine games raised more than US$1-million for a new game in less than 24 hours via the grass roots funding service Kickstarte r.
The implications for this have been much discussed in the gaming press. There are some who argue Double Fine’s success shows grassroots funding for games can work.
Others believe it shows players are willing to pre-pay for hotly anticipated games still in the development phase (In the Double Fine example, pledges over $15 get a copy of the game). Still others believe this shows that developers have ways of subverting the traditional developer/publisher relationship.
Still, there are several questions that are not being asked: Does Double Fine’s success indicate that gamers are willing to pay more for big games? Or, are developers losing out on lost revenue by not charging enough for their creations?
Source: Financial Post