Kickstarter, or crowdfunding in general, offers a good way to raise money for financing a computer game without relying on publishers.
However, the system also comes with pitfalls. Because what ultimately results and whether anything at all comes out is uncertain. When a development studio decides to fund the game through a crowdfunding campaign, they are walking on thin ice. They have an idea and present it. The goal is to excite players so much that they want to play the announced game and therefore contribute financially to the funding.
How far can a game stray from the announcement?
Now, it is the case that games can change during development. Especially when it is an open development process where the players and supporters are involved in the game’s design from the beginning. This can lead to the game straying further and further from the original announcement. As a developer, one may believe this is the right decision. After all, the players themselves are pushing the product in this direction. However, they overlook that many supporters contributed money for the originally announced concept and might now be upset.
How far can a game therefore deviate from what was announced during the crowdfunding campaign? Frontier Developments faced a significant backlash when they announced the cancellation of the offline mode for Elite: Dangerous. Many had contributed to the game’s funding because of this mode and were heavily disappointed. However, Elite: Dangerous continues to be successful. This change did not strike the game a severe blow.
From Selective Multiplayer Game with Single Player Approach to an MMORPG
Another game currently caught in this dilemma is Shroud of the Avatar. Originally announced during the Kickstarter campaign as “basically a single-player game that can also be played online,” it is now an MMORPG that can be played offline. Many game mechanics from single-player RPGs and MMORPGs are very different. Playing World of Warcraft offline would not automatically make it a good single-player game. Many from the SotA community are pushing the game into the MMO niche and want it to become Ultima Online 2.
In this context, the actual approach of the game, the Selective Multiplayer, is now seen as a “threat.” Because an MMORPG thrives on many players interacting with each other. However, many play in single-player or friends mode. In these modes, they are undisturbed and do not have to share resources with others. Voices are now even calling for the removal of single-player and friends mode from the game. However, this would completely eliminate the main feature of the game, the Selective Multiplayer approach, which many supporters likely contributed funding to during the Kickstarter campaign.
What do you think? Should a game funded through crowdfunding be allowed to stray from the original announcement, the original vision? And if so, how far could it deviate? Would it be acceptable for Shroud of the Avatar to become an MMORPG if the developers removed the Selective Multiplayer approach?
