Lessons were learned after the successful Kickstarter campaign
I think the question that most people asked themselves when they finished Broken Age Act I was “Okay, so when am I going to get to play Act II?” The more pressing concern was “Will there be an Act II?” but thankfully Double Fine’s Tim Schafer says that the studio has made more than enough to complete Act II.
Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Tim says the studio learned a lot during development; for instance, most development details were only given to backers, so when the decision came to split the game into two acts, non-backers were understandably confused. “We were just expanding the game and paying for it ourselves, not asking for more money,” Tim explains. “Seeing that difference between backers’ and non-backers’ perspective on the whole thing was illuminating.”
I can understand there being a hard balance to try and maintain; you want backers to feel like they have the inside scoop and information about the game’s development but that leaves non-backers out in the cold when big decisions are made that affect the final product.
Whilst it certainly wasn’t the first, the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter was the first big crowd-funding project that got people’s attention, so it’s understandable that it would come under a lot of scrutiny. Hopefully other studios that are running their own crowdfunding venture can learn from it.
How to stay afloat in a pool of internet twitter hate [GamesIndustry International]
