According to a new study, the percentage of successfully-funded video game campaigns on Kickstarter is the highest it’s been since the trend started in 2012. While the overall number of campaigns is down, the ratio of successful projects is higher than ever before.
According to ICO Partners, of the 678 video game campaigns started on Kickstarter in the first half of 2019, 193 were funded—a ratio of 28%. This percentage of successful projects is the highest recorded since 2012, when the Broken Age Kickstarter campaign first went live. The success of Broken Age (originally known as Double Fine Adventure) kicked off a wave of similar crowdfunding projects. Of the 409 projects that were kicked off in the ensuing period, only 106 projects were funded, which resulted in a success rate of 26%.
Notably, there were less campaigns overall than years’ past. While the total number of projects–678—is still a staggering amount, it’s the lowest number of projects since the first half of 2013. While the increased percentage could be attributed to the lower number of projects, the total number of funded projects is up, as well. The number, 193, is the highest since the 208 games that were funded late 2016.
In addition, the first half of 2019 has seen the most money taken in since 2015. According to ICO, about half of the money raised in that period has been towards campaigns that surpassed $500,000 in terms of funds. On the other hand, the other half went towards projects that earned less than $10,000.
While Kickstarter campaigns may not be quite as prevalent nowadays, some noteworthy projects have still come from the service. While it was a victim of a game-breaking bug, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night has been a success by all accounts. After months of waiting, Shenmue III will finally be available after a record-breaking campaign. Other games, like Yooka-Laylee and the upcoming System Shock remake, came from the service as well.
[Source: Gamesindustry.biz]
