Gaming's own Kickstarter

_{[Disclosure: I'm a volunteer on their advisory panel, along with some other familiar faces you may know.]}

The floodgates have opened at GameLaunched.com, a new crowdfunding company focused on the games industry with international appeal. You're probably already familiar with sites like GoFundMe, IndieGogo, and Kickstarter, so I needn't explain the concept further. Their niche focus is commendable. Unlike the other guys, Veronica Mars can't just waltz in and push brilliant indie gaming projects out of the spotlight unless she's ready to help sell the gaming industry a proper female lead. Thus, niche is good. That said, they've a hell of a competitor to catch up to.

Their FAQ digs directly into the skeptical and tougher concerns. For example, they've chosen an "all or nothing" funding strategy to hold developers to a higher standard, and developers keep 94% of the net funds after Paypal's fees (~3%). You also can't campaign your funding on more than one site, as per their submission guidelines. They're also unique by rewarding backers with an XP system that gives returning investors persistent status and occasional swag.

So what's up for the bidding? Check out the trailer for Huntsman: The Orphanage and the full GameLaunched.com press release below, and a contest to win the game right meow.

_{South Burlington, VT - GameLaunched.com, an international crowdfunding website for gaming, has announced that their official launch date is scheduled for Thursday, March 21, 2013.  As of the first of this year, GameLaunched.com successfully released their beta site in an effort to allow project teams the ability to begin creating campaigns before the websites’ official launch. Since the beta launch, projects such as “The Huntsman – The Orphanage” (recently receiving Steam’s prestigious “Greenlit”) and others have joined the ranks of campaigns hopeful to raise money to fund production of their projects. During the initial beta phase, user registration was open and gaming fans have visited the site from all over the world, registering and helping to spread the word of the pending launch via social networks and game forums driving thousands of visitors to the site. Registered users can now contribute to projects while game developers can continue to submit their games for approval.} 

_{GameLaunched.com is unlike any other crowdfunding site as it provides an international platform dedicated to gaming. This allows developers to submit anything from platform games, mobile applications, tabletop games, and PC games, to every other category feasible including gaming hardware and accessories from around the world. Allowing projects from around the globe will truly help GameLaunched seize a portion of the crowdfunding market that have often been overlooked by other sites.  Making the site available to developers outside the United States, gives international projects an opportunity to seek funding and gain exposure, the same as any other US based team. GameLaunched has assembled a panel of gaming experts from across the world to help select monthly featured projects.  The Launch Crew was put together not only to select featured projects, but to also offer mentoring or advice when needed for the featured projects.  The team at GameLaunched.com wanted to provide developers with as much help as possible to make every project a success. Projects will run for a full 30 days while developers can choose to apply for featured or standard funding and will only be funded if their project goals are reached.}

_{The gamer within all of us enjoys a little competition and a chance to earn points and compete against others.  GameLaunched.com has created an eXperience Points (XP) Leaderboard where every user gets credit for contributing to projects and sharing projects on their own social media sites.  When users obtain enough XP, those points can be traded in for some GameLaunched.com swag through the Marketplace on the site. The Marketplace allows developers who successfully funded their games on GameLaunched.com a platform to sell their final product commission free.  Now, not only will developers have a chance to fund a project, but they will also be able to sell it on the same site.  It  also helps eliminate the confusion for contributors on where to purchase the game once it has been developed.} 

_{The team at GameLaunched.com has worked very hard to separate itself from other funding platforms. WE did this by creating a site packed full of competition, social engagement and of course, supporting games we all want to see get developed.  So come visit GameLaunched.com and take your idea to the next level.}

Huntsman: The Orphanage looks pretty damn good already

As stated in my disclosure, I'm a voluntary adviser to the company. I don't receive any financial compensation; I'm just here to help promising games get some exposure by passing the best stuff I see to our editorial team for consideration, and its up them on what they cover or not.

So far, I've given thumbs up to Huntsman: The Orphanage, a non-violent horror game (frequently compared to Slenderman) which was recently Greenlit on Stream. Behind the scenes I've also sent 9,999 thumbs down to disorganized projects like the Oton, which in its current state sounds like the wet dream of a first-year computer science student. 

Why the world needs this as an underpowered console instead of a distributed software platform baffles me. Not really excited about the ostrich game either, but that came before me.

My interest is to give early-stage indie developers sound advice before they're beaten to death by the gaming press in public. Naturally, its also beneficial to me as a publisher of a gaming site to learn about upcoming games before most of humanity. In turn, I'm proud to give publicity to promising indie developers on Destructoid, as we have done in the past with other crowd-funded projects. You may also recognize some of these faces.  We've all volunteered to see great games get support and to lend our common sense.

I'll buy a GameLaunched hoodie or game for the most up-voted comment

GameLaunched will not succeed without the approval of the gaming industry at large. Please share the story with a friend, and give us feedback in the comments below and I'll pass them on to the team.

Oh yeah, and the perks start right now: I'll buy you anything from The Marketplace (or) donate $50 in your name towards Huntsman (gets you a copy of the game) if you win the most popular comment in this thread.  Good luck!