Utility and Risks of Crowdfunding for video games

Online Games Consulting & Services @icotom
V E F 2 0 1 5 – A N G O U L E M E
THOMAS BIDAUX
CEO @
U T I L I T Y A N D R I S K S O F C R O W D F U N D I N G

PART 1 - INTRODUCTION

I N T R O D U C T I O N – T h o m a s B I D A U X

I N T R O D U C T I O N - C R O W D F U N D I N G E X P E R I E N C E
• Strike Suit Zero (Born Ready Games, UK)
• Prodigy (Hanakai, Paris)
• 2DARK (Gloomywoods, Lyon)
• Fed back on 25+ projects (incl. Thimbleweed Park; Yooka-Laylee;
Broken Sword)
• Crowdfunding workshops (London; Paris)

• 3 main models: Equity; Loan; Rewards
• For-rewards leading on video games
• Kickstarter leading on video games
• Limited to certain countries
• Other platforms
• Indiegogo
• Ulule
• MMC
• KKBB
• Patreon
I N T R O D U C T I O N T O C R O W D F U N D I N G

PART 2 - CORE PRINCIPLE

20% in 48h

20%
• Choose your goal well.
• One “I love you” is worth 100 “I
like you”.
• Social proof matters.
• Your existing community matters a
lot. Measure it.
48h
• Not discovery platforms - can be
multipliers but can’t multiply 0.
• Your launch is your best beat.
• Success brings success.
C O R E P R I N C I P L E

• Backing is not buying. Entry barrier is higher.
• Finding the balance between credibility and urgency is a
delicate exercise
• Dealing with backers demands is more investors relations than
customer support
P S Y C H O L O G Y O F A B A C K E R

PART 3 - VIDEO GAMES

• Share your campaign to your community before you launch.
• Show the game, running, in the 30’ of your video
• Show the game with GIFs, on your campaign page
• Release a playable demo
• Offer Early Bird rewards (in limited quantity)
• Offer a $1/€1 reward level
• Keep the blocks of text to a minimum
• Keep your rewards easy to understand - if not, make an image summary
• React to your campaign
• Share other projects
• I like postcards
V I D E O G A M E S D O ’ S

• Don’t make a surprise campaign nobody expected
• Don’t announce your Stretch Goals
• Don’t say yes to all the demands - learn to say no
• Don’t keep quiet - answer to comments, make updates
• Don’t make your campaign longer than 35 days
• Don’t make it shorter than 25 days
• Don’t set your objective at $1/€1
• Don’t launch a campaign for a mobile game
• Don’t launch a campaign for a Free-to-Play game
• Don’t make promises you didn’t check you can fulfil
• Don’t lie!
V I D E O G A M E S D O N T ’ S

PART 4 - FAILING

20%
F A I L I N G
video games projects get funded

F A I L I N G
• Failing doesn’t carry a stigma. Getting funded is hard.
• Failed projects are still beneficial:
• Limited to certain countries
• Community building
• Media attention
• Investors attention
• You can also try again.

F A I L I N G

PART 5 - CLOSING WORDS

W W W . I C O P A R T N E R S . C O M
B R I G H T O N
U N I T E D K I N G D O M
C O N T A C T @ I C O P A R T N E R S . C O M
+ 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 0 7 1 9 3 5 1 5 8
thomas@icopartners.com
www.slideshare.net/ICOPartners
www.icopartners.com/blog
@icotom
www.facebook.com/icopartners

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