So You Want to Kickstart Your Game? by Casper Friis Farsøe CasperFFarsoe

Bachelor in Software Development at ITU Masters in Games (Tech line) at ITU Gameplay Programmer at Logic Artists Co-Owner/Technical Director at Frostwolf Studios About Casper

Expeditions: Conquistador

Kickstarter What is the primary purpose of Kickstarter? Raise money – right?

Controversial Statement #1 Kickstarter is terrible for acquiring a lot of money (in most cases)

Danish Games on Kickstarter

'The Big Three' Rule Well-known and established team ”Rockstar” Developer Famous IP Source: Thomas Lund (Full Control)

Danish Games on Kickstarter

Controversial Statement #2 Kickstarter is primarily a PR/Marketing tool

Before the campaign – plan, plan, plan! During the campaign – release the Kraken! After the campaign – the project failed After the campaign – the project succeeded Various things to remember So you want to go on Kickstarter

Have a playable prototype of the game Prepare reward tiers – be careful with physical rewards Select what media you want to contact – and send material to them 2-3 weeks in advance Prepare the majority of the updates for the Kickstarter duration Have a ”base” - some website where all traffic can be directed to Look at other Kickstarter projects Before the campaign

Roll out the updates on a regular basis (no updates is a dead project) Decide what updates needs to be public or hidden Have someone dedicated to answer comments Don't promise what you can't guarantee Stop clicking F5 on the Kickstarter page – it's not healthy for you During the campaign

65% of all games on Kickstarter have failed (as of September 2014) Make sure the team knows what happens if YOUR project fails Communicate clearly to backers – is the project dead? If work continues, redirect everyone to the ”base” You got no money, but hopefully some fans After the campaign - failed

The game is now public – backers expect to hear what's going on Ensure that updates go out at least every month Continue to debate with backers Deliver on time, or be very clear why the product is delayed Physical rewards needs to be sent out – a lot of overhead After the campaign - succeeded

Don't make Kickstarter projects in a personal company form like I/S. Lawsuits! Kickstarter DK vs Kickstarter US Stretch goals must be realistic Show where the money goes Your Kickstarter video can make or break the project – ensure good audio quality Have fun with it! Various things to remember

Casper Friis Farsøe CasperFFarsoe Slides: