'Kickstarter projects have to be special, not just somebody's next game'
Tim Schafer says he hopes talk of Kickstarter can return to a positive conversation after a recent backlash against some developers using the crowdfunding platform.
His company, Double Fine, kick-started the Kickstarter craze a year ago by raising over $3.3 million for an old-school adventure game.
Since then, gamers have cooled to the platform, leading to the failure or cancellation of games by several high-profile studios.
"People don't like just any Kickstarter anymore," Schafer told Gamesindustry.
"For a while, Kickstarter was so new and exciting they were just backing everything. Kickstarter projects have to be special, not just somebody's next game, but a project that should not be made another way.
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"Like, the fans would not want you taking money from a publisher for this game because they want you to make it for them, with their concerns in mind."
The backlash appears to be born of a skepticism so deep that some have even criticised Schafer's original Double Fine Kickstarter.
"One article described me as reaching out of my mansion with my golden cup, asking for handouts. Obviously [the writer] has not been to my house," said Schafer.
"There's been so much, 'Oh, I'm getting sick of all these Kickstarters. Everyone's Kickstarting everything. Why is it always old people who want to revive a dead genre?' I think that backlash has happened, but I'm hoping for that to be over soon, so we can get back to talking about what an amazing, door-opening, positive thing Kickstarter is."
Hi Seth. Could you please stop speaking for Mr. Schafer? I like the quoted sections, as I value his opinions and thoughts, but your use of "Tim Schafer says" is inappropriate. If he didn't say it, don't say he said it.
Apologies, I have amended the article to remove the term 'reckless' and hopefully more accurately reflect Tim Schafer's comments.
Jason, thanks for your concern. I figured I'd let you get a "behind the scenes" look at why I used reckless, and why there isn't a full quote for it.
From the original interview: 'However, he added developers can't be "reckless" about their crowdfunding.'
What's happening here is that the interviewer was taking the high-interest word and summarizing the rest. This is commonly considered a mercy for readers who have busy days and might lose interest if you have a massive quote that says relatively little. Hence, Schafer (Unless misquoted) did use the word reckless.
To be frank, when writing an interview summary, or referencing another article, I am basically trying to do something that's already been done well in a way that uses my voice and (hopefully) improves clarity. Since I think Mr. Sinclair's wording couldn't be altered without changing the meaning or just being plain shoddy, I dropped it, and just kept the word "reckless" since that was in quotes.
In the future I'll try and make this sort of citation more clear. I'm not writing for my own benefit, but to keep you informed and if you'd prefer full quotation whenever possible I'll gladly oblige. I'm paid because you read, so by all means let me know what you'd like to see different. And specifics help. We have reasonably thick skins :)
Hope my clumsy attempt at transparency helps!
I thought it was odd that all the larger companies using Kickstarter use the excuse 'to avoid a publisher' when The Cave is being published by SEGA.
I think the critics have a point. Tim Schafer is one of the most successful and best known directors in the history of PC gaming. His company recently privately funded an old school adventure game that was released in January. Not to mention their successful mainstream partnerships with Microsoft and Sesame Street.
I think the future of crowd funding will feature more hard pragmatism and less generous optimism to upstarts. The flip side of having a well known developer plead for cash is that you know they have a track record and will probably deliver. If the transaction is reduced to a very early preorder of something gamers are excited about, we just need a way of cancelling that when the developer doesn't follow through on their end of the agreement.
