What are the best ways to fund development of an independent game?

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Jun 16, 2019

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10 Options Considered

Best ways to fund development of an independent game	Price	Last Updated
85 Kickstarter	-	Jun 16, 2019
-- Day Job	-	Jun 16, 2019
-- Patreon	-	Jul 11, 2017
-- IndieGoGo	-	Jan 19, 2015
-- Private Investors	-	May 29, 2019

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score 24 · Answer 1

Kickstarter

Top Pro

All-or-nothing model allows commitment with certainty

Knowing that there is enough funding will allow long-term budget planning. Knowing that there's not funding allows users to move on. See More

Top Con

Can't work with banks that don't accept $0

Beware if your bank (as many other banks) doesn't accept $0 charges. You can't pledge in this case because Kickstarter tries to charge $0. See More

Top Pro

Strong games community with good public reputation

Due to several high-profile successes, Kickstarter is known for funding games. This has created a public perception of legitimacy for Kickstarter projects, which other crowdfunding options may lack. See More

Top Con

Unresponsive and unhelpful support

Even if it answers it gives you standard answers. In addition there's a bug and when you open your ticket you can't access the ticket and communicate with the support further. See More

Top Con

Goals need to be higher than on competing services

There's a 5% fee for using the service, a 3-5% fee for processing payments and since rewards for various pledge levels are not optional they often end up being physical goods that have to be shipped and that adds cost of the goods, the time it takes to create the goods and the cost of shipping the goods to the total amount of money that has to be raised for the project. See More

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score 8 · Answer 2

Day Job

Top Con

Lack of obligation can translate to lack of motivation

The prospect of losing something is often a stronger motivator than the prospect of gaining something. When nobody will lose anything concrete if development stalls, it can be harder to maintain focus. See More

Top Pro

Minimum risk to all parties

Since nobody is giving you money for development, you owe nothing to anyone. Since you have income independent of the game, your personal security does not hinge on its success. See More

Top Con

Development is constrained to hobby time

Since your income is decoupled from the game, the game has to come second. Depending on your other obligations this could result in very little time allotted to development. See More

Top Con

Day Job gets in the way of development time

You may start the day very motivated to work on your project, but then after coming home from the day job the motivation is gone due to tiredness, or other daily priorities taking precedence thus leaving you without much time to get the will power to work again. Rinse and repeat each day. See More

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score 3 · Answer 3

Patreon

Top Con

Unproven model for game funding

Patreon is one of the newest crowdfunding sites, and its unique model makes comparison to other sites difficult. As of August 2014, no high-profile developers have chosen Patreon for funding. See More

Top Pro

Great for influencers with unique contributions

Rewards artists developing unique content very well. No other platforms compare as of now. See More

Top Con

Difficult to make long-term projections

Because patrons can pull out at any time, you can't necessarily rely on a certain rate of pledges even if you maintain consistent work. See More

Top Pro

Low risk to patrons

Campaigns are ongoing and funded based on observable work, so the potential patron doesn't have to worry about the project dying after payments are collected. See More

Top Con

Potentially inappropriate for commercial products

Patreon's structure and culture assume free distribution of the creators' output. Collecting secondary revenue (e.g. unit sales, in-game ads) is not strictly prohibited, but may be seen as a violation of trust if not handled carefully. See More

Top Pro

Projects can change and adapt over time

Without the advance payment of a large lump sum of donations, creators are free from the associated commitment to the specific goals those donations were based on. This also reduces the need for exhaustive time and budget estimates, which can be daunting for new and inexperienced developers. See More

Top Pro

No need for reward schemes

The deliverable is the reward; so you can focus all your attention on developing an awesome game, rather than posting and packaging. See More

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score 2 · Answer 4

IndieGoGo

Top Con

Poor gaming community can dull pledgers' enthusiasm

Without the game-funding reputation of Kickstarter or the novelty of smaller sites, IndieGoGo campaigns can receive dubious reactions from the public. See More

Top Pro

Allows both all-or-nothing and flexible-funding plans

While all or nothing is an option, flexible funding gives people the option to receive money even if the goal isn't met. See More

score 2 · Answer 5

Private Investors

Top Con

Equity commitment

An investment is not a loan which can be paid off; it's a permanent piece of the action. Part of your earnings belong to the investor, indefinitely. See More

Top Pro

You only need one

A successful crowdfunding campaign requires social marketing and community management. Gaining an investor requires convincing just one person that your project is worth it. See More

Top Con

Comprehensive business plan is essential

If you can't show where the money is going and how long it's going to take to yield returns, you're not likely to get any. See More

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score 1 · Answer 6

Early Access

Top Pro

Get end-user feedback earlier in development

Because early access doubles as a public playtest, you can get valuable user feedback while there's still time to implement changes. See More

Top Con

Not viable until the game is in a playable state

Early access depends on consumer interest, and few consumers will be interested in an unplayable pre-alpha build. Another option must be used for early development. See More

score 1 · Answer 7

Ratafire

Top Pro

Free to use

Ratafire is a free to use fan funding tool. See More

Top Con

Not very well-known

The site is still very new. See More

score 1 · Answer 8

Rally.org

Top Pro

Doesn't require a goal

No goal needs to be set to start fundraising. See More

Top Con

No real gaming community is available

The site's community is mostly interested in organizing fundraising around various social, economical and political causes. See More

Top Pro

Processes payments directly

Rally has a in-house proprietary payments system. There's no middleman such as PayPal or Amazon needed to transfer money. See More

Top Pro

Donation links can be embedded in videos and imagers

Rally.org includes a feature called covers that allows donation links to be embedded in videos and images. See More

Top Pro

Can be used for ongoing fundraising

Both one-time and ongoing fundraising initiatives are supported by the platform. See More

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Answer 9

RocketHub

Top Pro

Partnered with A&E Project Startup

Campaigns on RocketHub may receive donations from A&E, and may be featured at projectstartup.com or on A&E television. See More

Top Con

Relatively obscure

As of August 2014, RocketHub does not rank among the top 10 crowdfunding sites by traffic, and no high-profile games have been funded there. See More

Answer 10

Ulule

Top Pro

International, multilingual community

Ulule supports posting your campaign in multiple languages, and converts currencies based on the user's preference. See More

Top Pro

Can set a funding goal based on units sold

Ulule recognizes that one of the most common pledge perks is the final product itself, and allows a campaign to fully embrace the pre-sale model. See More

10 Options Considered

My Recommendation for Kickstarter

My Recommendation for Kickstarter

All-or-nothing model allows commitment with certainty

Can't work with banks that don't accept $0

Strong games community with good public reputation

Unresponsive and unhelpful support

Goals need to be higher than on competing services

My Recommendation for Day Job

My Recommendation for Day Job

Lack of obligation can translate to lack of motivation

Minimum risk to all parties

Development is constrained to hobby time

Day Job gets in the way of development time

My Recommendation for Patreon

My Recommendation for Patreon

Unproven model for game funding

Great for influencers with unique contributions

Difficult to make long-term projections

Low risk to patrons

Potentially inappropriate for commercial products

Projects can change and adapt over time

No need for reward schemes

My Recommendation for IndieGoGo

My Recommendation for IndieGoGo

Poor gaming community can dull pledgers' enthusiasm

Allows both all-or-nothing and flexible-funding plans

My Recommendation for Private Investors

My Recommendation for Private Investors

Equity commitment

You only need one

Comprehensive business plan is essential

My Recommendation for Early Access

My Recommendation for Early Access

Get end-user feedback earlier in development

Not viable until the game is in a playable state

My Recommendation for Ratafire

My Recommendation for Ratafire

Free to use

Not very well-known

My Recommendation for Rally.org

My Recommendation for Rally.org

Doesn't require a goal

No real gaming community is available

Processes payments directly

Donation links can be embedded in videos and imagers

Can be used for ongoing fundraising

My Recommendation for RocketHub

My Recommendation for RocketHub

Partnered with A&E Project Startup

Relatively obscure

My Recommendation for Ulule

My Recommendation for Ulule

International, multilingual community

Can set a funding goal based on units sold

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