22Cans boss says he doesn't have enough money to run the studio and fund Project Godus
Peter Molyneux claims the assumption of his wealth has meant hurt his Kickstarter campaign’s chances.
Speaking to Kotaku, the 22Cans boss, who is trying to muster £450,000 from backers to fund his studio’s new god game Project Godus, claimed he did not have enough money to both start up the studio and also invest in the new title.
Molyneux claimed that he was not an excepetionally wealthy individual, despite being one of the most famous developers in the UK game industry having led development on numerous well-known titles.
He added that he understood many people saw the crowdfunding website as a place for small and struggling developers and perhaps not for big names, but that his own resources were still finite and he needed the money raised from Kickstarter to make Project Godus a reality.
“With Lionhead, I can't remember the percentage of my share but it was way, way less than 50 per cent,” said Molyneux.
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“I was just the front man and I believed that the talent was the people behind the scenes. So, I'm not saying that I'm out on the streets by any means but there's a lot more wealthy people in this industry. I certainly don't have enough money to fund 22cans for all time. I've used a lot of my money to fund the company in March of this year, and to recruit probably the best team that I've ever worked with and to release Curiosity but like all resources they're finite.
“I think the assumption that I'm richer than Mark Zuckerberg and that we both own Europe has hurt our Kickstarter campaign. A lot of people think that people like myself shouldn't enter into Kickstarter, that it's only for struggling developers. We are very fortunate that I had received money to found 22Cans and we're off to a running start. But again, those resources are finite."
With just three days left to go, Project Godus has raised nearly £370,000 in funds from 11,951 backers, but is still short of its £450,000 goal by £80,000.
I think it's hard to argue that you're not a wealthy person when you could personally cover the development costs you are asking for on Kickstarter.
(The article says 450,000$ but it is actually in pounds, which converts to 730,000$.)
This kickstarter is far from humble. While I won't go on to assume his financial status I can easily seem him finding a publisher to assist him; he merely does not want to.
There are plenty of kickstarter projects fighting for money, some with nowhere else to turn to for funding.
The man could use a little bit of humility, but I hope his succeeds regardless so he can focus on making stuff people enjoy.
I think most people would remember their % share of a company!
The kickstarter campaign will only fund a portion of Godus cost. No way it is going to be finish in less than a year (as they claim) and no way it will cover all the wages.
If this guy wasn't such a famous hype-master who can't come close to delivering, maybe he would get funds. He has produced some real junk.
The point that I and others have made is that established developers with an industry track record can secure funding via conventional means.
Peter Molyneux, or David Braben (of Frontier), could walk into the office of a publisher, or a merchant bank and, because of who they are, acquire $3 million to develop their 'triple A' game.
Small, first-time Indies stand no chance of acquiring conventional funding. Nor can they compete with the swish marketing videos of the established game developers on Kickstarter.
I fear that donations will be swallowed up by the larger projects (the big fish) and there will be nothing left for the small fish.
It is wrong to assume that name developers can secure publishing funding easily these days. It is actually very hard and seems to make no difference if the game is nearly finished or just a concept.
Publishers are so cash strapped and risk averse they won't touch an original game and fund it to any great depths in the traditional way, not just here in the UK but across the globe.
Deal makers at publishers and investors have become spoiled for choice dealing with inexperienced business men running small start ups who will give away half of their company for 6 months funding of their latest project. In comparison more experienced developers looking for a traditional advance against royalties style deal for their original game (all the rage from 1985 until about 2003) suddenly seem very expensive by comparison...
In short it is near to impossible to get advance against royalty deals for original games any more, no matter who you are, which is why Peter and even David (with his Elite sequel) have had to resort to going to Kickstarter for funding.
Also there is a big difference between borrowing $3 million from a merchant bank and receiving a $3 million advance from a publisher. If you are smart an advance will come without personal liability.. try getting that from a bank :)
