Kickstarter Games - So many projects that have gone dark

Right now out of 9 games I kickstarted and that were successfully funded, only 2 actually delivered (and one of those 2 was not able to deliver on the platform I had selected)

With 7 other projects ranging from 6 months late to 3 years overdue and presumably dead it has me completely disillusioned in the whole crowd funding for games model. I got excited in the big boom when of crowdfunding and funded a bunch of stuff I was excited for, but it seems I was just paying to feel the excitement in the moment.

I'm wondering how everyone else is feeling on kickstarter game projects? Do many other people have a big list of presumably dead and failed projects?

Maybe I've just been lucky but I forsee 100% of my games being delivered. The only ones not out look safely on their way to completion and the only one that got extremely delayed was Broken Age, which I was happy with in the end. Pillars of Eternity is also the best game I've played this year by a mile so yeah, feeling lucky.

You definitely got lucky / were interested in better organized things.

I fully expected this sort of thing to happen, there is zero meaningful protection for donors. It's also part of why I've never backed anything.

To be honest Kickstarted games have been a significantly more successful than I would have guessed (in quality and number that actually shipped), so if anything I've been pleasantly surprised by what it has produced so far.

@hayt said:

Maybe I've just been lucky but I forsee 100% of my games being delivered. The only ones not out look safely on their way to completion and the only one that got extremely delayed was Broken Age, which I was happy with in the end. Pillars of Eternity is also the best game I've played this year by a mile so yeah, feeling lucky.

That's 100% identical to my list of backed projects, and I've been extremely happy with all the released products so far. Can't fucking wait for Torment, gonna save up some vacation time for that I think.

Of what I've backed, 80% have come out and 40% have been any good. And two of them were awesome.

Hyper Light Drifter is still coming out!

..right???

I backed Banner Saga, Wasteland 2, and Volgarr the Viking. 100% success rate so far. Nothing since then has really grabbed me, though I got close to backing a few times (Chroma Squad, Hyper Light Drifter).

Everything I've backed has come out. I have only backed a few things though. That Mega Drive book, Shovel Knight and Ghost of a Tale which is definitely going to come out despite being a year late. The one man making it puts out pretty regular updates. ( The first video of that game and the newest show a huge jump in just about everything.)

More recently I backed Bloodstained and I'm 100% certain that thing is going to get made, and at the very least be a good game.

@mikeeegeee: it better, it looks fuckin rad.

Nope. For me Star Citizen, DreamFall Chapters, Torment: TIdes of Numernia, and Pillars of Eternity have either released product or are still giving regular updates. Games take a while to make man. Unless they hire a community manager its hard to consistently put ou regular updates.

What I find fascinating about game Kickstarters, and the root of a lot of misapprehension, is that they shine a spotlight on the realities of game development in a way so many players had never seen before. One of those realities being that shit fails, often, and the only real difference is that you get to see it with these collection of projects on Kickstarter.

I've only backed one project:

It was delayed about 4 months, but it was definitely worth it. After that, I figured I'd quit while I was ahead, even though the Mighty No. 9 and Bloodstained Kickstarters were very tempting.

The River City Random: Underground project is one Kickstarter I'm glad I avoided. Unless they received funding from another source, I don't see how they have any of the KS money at this point.

Have only backed one game, being Bloodstained, to which I have a sneaking suspicion will see a release.

@arcitee: what projects have you backed?

Seems like everyone else here, including myself has had a pretty good success rate.

Most of the stuff I've backed ended up being late, but I've never had a project I backed disappear.

Everything I've backed has eventually been released, even if in some cases it's late and/or underwhelming. It seems to me like the cases of someone running away with the cash or throwing in the towel and releasing nothing are extremely rare.

I've only backed Shenmue 3 and yooka-laylee.

Backing anything other than already established developers or people who actually have previously shipped products seem like a bad idea to me. Which is kind of sad because that's pretty much what kickstarter is about.

I prefer greenlight for that kind of stuff. It has its own set of pretty big problems but at least i can see what the developers have done so far and decide from there if i think it's worth spending money on in its current state or not.

Its up to people to be more critical about what they back, I haven't backed anything that haven't turned up or isn't getting regular updates.

@arcitee: Wasn't the Hyper Light Drifter dev in really bad health, which caused the massive delay?

@hayt: That looks like my list, minus Banner Saga, Mighty No. 9, Bloodstained, and a handful of smaller projects.

The only disappointment I've had so far is Project Phoenix. I don't think that'll ever come out. I wasn't really impressed with Banner Saga or Massive Chalice, but I don't regret backing those games.

So far, backing projects from somewhat established studios has seemed to pay off. I do wish I backed FTL back when it was on Kickstarter, though. I just had no way of knowing it would end up being my GOTY for that year.

I don't think it's a problem with kickstarter, but just the realities of game development. If anything it should help people understand why some of their favorite games never get sequels backed by major publishers, the risk/reward isn't worth it.

I will say that I am very happy with Dreamfall Chapters and The Final Fantasy 6 soundtrack. However, Republique was such a kick in the balls since I backed the Ipad version of the game and for nebulous legal reasons they could not give those codes to Canadian backers, I asked for a steam key instead, never got it and then decided, "screw it I don't want to play your game anyway"

The rest of the list makes very sad, especially River City Ransom Underground :(

I've only kickstarted two things, the first failed completely years ago, and the second is the Arduboy. I hope the Arduboy delivers, it looks like it'll be fun to develop for.

There's risk with anything. In preordering games, you risk buying a game that sucks. With Kickstarters: you risk projects going FUBAR. Risk is an inescapable factor. Even with big games, you risk pissing off your investors and losing money.

Crowdfunding shifts the risk from the devs/board of the company to users. Plain and simple.

I've backed Project Cars, Next Car Game, River City Ransom, Skullgirls. Bought a couple of early access games on Steam, Dirt Rally & Carmageddon (just for the older games when it was on sale).

Yeah I agree, there seems to be some confusion that kickstarter is a pre-ordering service when it's a risk on an idea that you're interested in.

@arcitee The facebook page for River City Ransom says news is coming soon from a post from the 7th.

I pretty much don't kickstart video games. As a software developer myself, I know there are just too many things that can go wrong. (I don't preorder or buy launch day for the same reason.)

The only video game I've backed was Race the Sun, and that was because there was already a playable flash version.

Mostly I back physical games and books, where the content has already been created and it's just a matter of getting it into physical form. And even then the creator has to have to a proven track record.

Its really wrong to think of backing as "buying" imo. Thats the first mistake most people make when backing a game. I have the feeling that always offering the game itself as a backer reward reinforces people's ideas of buying something, which they arent.

I backed multiple things ive been super happy about but honestly if they had failed or whatever it wouldnt be that big of a deal. I always keep in mind a project could fail in the most horrible ways when backing, I mean, do people realise how much games funded by publishers actually turn out shit or get cancelled because they turn out to just not come together in a proper way?(or maybe rather used to get cancelled as publishers get more and more cautious spending their money on risky propositions) Thats just the reality of it, only then its the publishers money thats gone and not ours.

EDIT: so basically what oursin360 said :) Didnt read all comments yet before posting, oops.

I've pretty much made peace with the fact that I may never actually get Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden 2. It'd certainly be nice it if did, but I've stopped holding my breath on that front.

I almost backed Barkley Shut up and Jam: Gaiden 2...I think I just ended up forgetting, I guess for the best. Yeah I get all the risks involved, I'm just starting to feel they are too insurmountable for most video game projects. I can't get behind backing them anymore, just not a good use of my money.

I've backed three games so far.

Wasteland 2 was funded in March 2012 and was released in September 2014. They've continued development since then and have a Director's Cut coming out free for backers.

Star Citizen is, well, we all know that story. I'm confident it will eventually be a real game, and I've got faith in Chris Roberts to realize his dream.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance was funded in January 2014 after only 36 hours. They had been working on it for two years prior to the Kickstarter campaign, and have been releasing Tech Alphas since October 2014. Everything seems on track to me.

Everything I've backed is making progress and has had an update posted recently, or is done and out.

I backed Kung Fury, which came out, although the blu ray/dvd tiers still have yet to be met =/, and i have backed SuperHot which looks like it will be out very soon so far my success rate has been good.

The one game that just literally disappeared totally (that I backed) was Lioness, and really I just wanted the soundtrack to that game. I didn't give a shit about the actual game.

The only game I've ever backed and probably ever will back is Yooka-Laylee, and I'm pretty sure that's gonna come out.

The La-Mulana 2 kickstarter just keeps posting updates with pictures of curry and dumb shit about costumes. But I do think it's coming along.

I haven't backed anything that's outright failed, and I've been really satisfied with most of them.

I'm glad the option exists as an alternate way for games getting funded. I don't have the idealism or expendable income to actually fund anything myself but every once in a while an excellent game gets made. When it's done and receives positive feedback by sources I trust, and the price is right, I buy and enjoy it just like any other game.

The massive hype train proclaiming KS to be the ultimate tool to empower the community and create anything more unique than the "regular" gaming industry already does was a bunch of hot garbage of course, but any sort of hype tends to be.

Get your game made in whatever way you deem reasonable, make it fucking good and I'll be sure to buy it.

@bbalpert: Did something happen to it? I was looking forward to playing it once it fully comes out.

Hyper Light Drifter seems like its still coming. I see new .gifs posted on twitter every now and then.

The only thing I backed was Last Life, and that seems to be coming along. The guy posted semi-regular updates and shows images and .gifs and stuff. I'm happy the way that game is progressing.

Just keep in mind that you're not an investor, you're not a developer, you just donated to a charity. So frame your expectations and reactions accordingly.

I'm on mobile, so I can't link to my list on this site devoted to everything I've backed, but everything I've put money towards has either come out or seems on track to come out. Not all of them have been winners, but I'm pretty ok with my track record thus far.

@arcitee: I can understand being upset by delays, but to be honest, I think you're being a bit rash by saying that the seven games you've backed that haven't delivered yet are "presumably dead." Most of the projects you've listed that haven't shipped yet are still posting at least semi-regular updates or in the case of Mighty No. 9 appear to be nearly complete with a pretty confident release date in the not too distant future (personally, I'd prefer for Mighty No. 9 to post far fewer updates). Echoes of Eternea is the only project you've backed that I think there's currently a reason to be genuinely concerned about the possibility of it not releasing in any capacity.

@chaser324: I would also say that Eternea is dead. River City Ransom apparently might be dead because the rights were sold and they need to be renegotiated with the kickstarter team again. The rest of them there is still some hope I suppose; they have all exceeded their release window but game delays are not unexpected in this industry.

I haven't backed anything, so I have both a 100% and 0% success rate. Yay?

I would have backed Armikrog had I the money at the time, and that seems to be well on its way to coming out (yay!), so I'll chalk that up as a theoretical win.

@shagge: There's a release date for Armikrog! Aug 18th. It's almost time to dust off Neverhood and get myself ready for Armikrog.

@whitegreyblack: Eee! Didn't know it was so close!

I too should break out some Neverhood. And then maybe make a point of not breaking out Skullmonkeys, as my controller would do well not being thrown at the TV.

Only game I've ever backed that hasn't come out is Radio the Universe. It probably won't ever get finished at this point, but I'm cool with it. I took a risk and it hasn't yet paid off, but a lot of other stuff I backed did, so it's a net positive in my view.

I've only backed Bloodstained, so pretty sure that's coming out.

Really kind of wanted to back Shenmue 3 out of good will but I never played the series so don't really have a good reason to.

HOW DARE YOU DOUBT BARKLEY 2

I have no doubt it will. It's got some serious buzz behind it and it's been shown to the press a couple of times I think.

Where the hell is The Witness? That's what I want to know...

I don't mean this in a negative way, but people who back bad project have no one to blame but themselves. I understand that there isn't really a way to KNOW what is a bad project beforehand, but i most cases there really ARE telltale signs, and most of them aren't any different than how you would judge a packaged game on the shelf.

I understand being disappointed, but I think it's important to remember that a bad backing history can't reflect negatively on kickstarter any more than buying a bad game library can reflect negatively on a particular console.