Fig, a New Crowdfunding Site, is Transparent in the Best Way

For the longest time now, if you’ve wanted to try a crowdfunding campaign, you had one of three choices: Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, or hosting a private crowdfunding thing on your own website. Now, nothing is strictly wrong with any one of these three options, but there is an inherent lack of transparency that a lot of games companies are starting to just now take advantage of. Namely, it’s becoming a disturbingly common trend for developers to ask for fan donations even when their game already has the attention and support of a traditional publisher, ruining the “good” crowdfunding was supposed to do and instead turning it into some horribly misleading version of pre-ordering.

Something needs to be done. Thankfully, something is. Check out the latest Kickstarter alternative, Fig.

So why are we reporting on Fig if they’re not paying us to? Well, a few reasons. For one, Fig is exclusively for video games—which means that its services and format is better designed to accommodate showing off prospective projects. Secondly, it was founded by a Games Industry veteran, Double Fine’s Justin Bailey, who obviously had a lot of experience with crowdfunding. But finally, and perhaps most importantly, it’s come at the exact perfect time: with Kickstarters like Red Ash, Shenmue 3 and Yooka Laylee showing the world that companies are very interested in using crowdfunding, Fig is designed to not only encourage that, but make it transparent when it happens, with the added option of equity investing.

Now, don’t get all excited just yet: Equity Investing is only available to accredited investors worth over a million dollars who are willing to invest at least $1,000 into a project, but that’s not what really matters: what matters is it takes what some are considering the most unscrupulous part of Kickstarter (save scams, which still happen) and makes it front-and-center to avoid confusion or a feeling of betrayal. Namely, by making it visible just how much money they’ve gotten in Equity Funding in addition to how much they’re raised through traditional crowdfunding measures.

As for why it’s specific for gaming? Well… according to Mr. Bailey….
 

"Other crowdfunding sites are horizontal. They serve many industries. Anything you do has to work for taxidermy just as much as it works for video games. If you look at a lot of crowdfunding, it's about building a finished product. The campaign goal is set at the minimum amount of orders needed to make that product. Games are completely different. The people involved are financing the development of that game. It's much more specific. A lot of times, with these high-profile games like Feargus and Brian and Tim make, the stakes are high. Multiple millions are coming in… We're a vertical approach, so our involvement doesn't just stop once the campaign is done…

 
So! It’s move involved, more transparent, and run by old industry vets. Sign me up. Check out the website and their first projects here, maybe throw a few bucks their direction. Or maybe don’t. Who am I to judge?