Kickstarter Games are Failing More, Says ICO

I don’t think there’s anyone who can argue that Kickstarter hasn’t been a great thing for the games industry.  Sure, it has some downsides: you see a lot of fresh creators discouraged when their projects fail, there are more than a few examples of projects succeeding and failing anyway (or, in the worst cases, simply vanishing with the money), and a healthy handful of Kickstarter games ultimately come out like crap.  But those negative points are vastly outnumbered by the good it has done: it’s given countless would-be game developers a chance to chase their dream, it’s enabled the creation of bold, original ideas, and most importantly it gave indie developers an avenue for funding independent of bankers or publishers and allowed them to be responsive—and responsible—to their customers directly.

But despite those successes—such as the world-record-breaking success of, say, Star Citizen—have we passed the peak of crowdfunded games?  According to a report by firm ICO Partners, we may very well have.   In a fascinating (but long) report published here, the funding for gaming projects on Kickstarter have dramatically dropped since 2013.   How badly? 

Between the first of January and the last day of June in 2013, collectively, games raised over 58 million dollars, funding 446 games.

In that same scope of time this year, the first of January and the last day of June, games only raised 13.5 million dollars, funding 175 projects.   That’s less than 1/4^th of the money raised.

Now, granted, this study doesn’t take games funded by Indiegogo or other crowdfunding sites into account, but it’s still a stark difference.  ICO Partners suggests the main reasons for the drop include less “Blockbuster” games submitted by famous gaming personalities, as well as a dip in excitement.  But still, it’s hard to believe that’s all there is too it, considering how huge the difference is.

Still, it is what it is.  Maybe things will improve, or maybe better games will find their way on the crowdfunding marketplace: either way, time will tell… I still sincerely doubt Crowdfunding is going anywhere.

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EDIT: It seems I was misinformed.  The 58 million dollar figure was accounting for the full years sales, not merely the first 6 months.  We still have time to catch up!