"There is a new breed of publisher partner...an' this town aint big enough for the both of us..."
Well there might be and there might not. In some circles it has lead to a great deal of speculation on what the long term effects it might have on gaming. If you've not been following the board gaming trends, let me catch you up to speed (a bit- because it is starting to get complicated)
So I'm talking about the small group of publishers who have banded together to help support each other. They have their roots in Kickstarter even though some of them predate that phenomenon.
Tasty Minstrel, CleverMojo, 5th street games, GozerGames, DicehatemeGames, CrashGames, Nevermore, and a slew of others have had one or two successes on Kickstarter and now are poised to continue the momentum with more releases.
There is a whole progression to the process as well. Once a designer goes through the work it takes to track down artists and graphics designers and works out the details of printing and distribution, the groundwork is set for follow up games.
There are podcasts now solely dedicated to the KS board gaming. In Funding the dream (http://www.thegamewhisperer.com/) The Gamewhisperer has begun exploring the impact of KS on the game community and how it is going to change the dynamics of what kinds of games make it to the market and how it will impact established publishers.
Right now there are two schools of thought. Some companies like Eagle games have begun using KS as an ancillory way to get some of their games to the market. In many cases, these games would (or perhaps already have) been published but the company can use KS as direct marketing for the public.
Another company GameSalute, is offering a full pakage that takes all the work out of the learning curve that comes with KS and facilitates getting the game to the market. In this case they operate much like a traditional publisher but are contingent on a successful KS campaign.
There is a lot of speculation about what the long term impact of crowd funded games will have on the market. but I'll have to save that for a whole other blog post...
The following is the reply to similiar thread on www.FortressAt.com. I ported it ovr because it was (mostly) applicable to this entry.
ReplyDeleteOk so let me throw in my 2 cents. Right now there are a whole group of small publishers who have 'cracked the system'. It is realy pretty interesting to watch. They know how to get their game images into the hotness, they are all over social media, they are using socialogy and marketing techiniques to determine when when to push their games and when to put it into the hotness. They support each others games using page views and hits to generate buzz.
It is nothing new though, Colby Dauch has been doing it since his first foray in to publishing and it has lead him to great success. The difference here though is that there is a whole 'alliance' of small publishers so it is easier to generate the volume needed to catapult stuff into the hotness. I am rather taken with the whole idea because they are taking advantage of BGG. However, Another aspect of that is promoting through official BGG channels though adds and contests (which you are right- they're pretty expensive $1200.)
The other side of this is kickstarter which has enabled them to publish at a greatly reduced overhead and give them starting capitol to offset costs. This has also been studied and is married to the buzz campaign on BGG. The whole thing is really pretty clever. KS has been so successful that that there are even consultants who will help you learn the ropes of this whole process (the game whisperer's podcast Funding the Dream.) Game Salute in now offering a 'total package' that will do it all for you should you want to just concentrate on the game design and have some oen else take care of details.
As for Chicken Ceasar, I'd like to try it. I talked with Brian Fischer, one of the designers and I liked the power struggle aspect of the game- though Chickens? I would have gone for gangsters...oh wait.
Regaurding Vasel's videos I think as long as he makes it clear that it is a paid review then do whatever the hell he wants. That is capitolism right? Personally I get paid for *not* endorsing a game...and for not attending game functions. And for not associating with certain people. All of you who are behind in your payments can expect a visit soon and all the unpleasantness that comes from enduring my company. Of course you can all make it go away for a few $$$.
Steve"Making a quick buck"Avery
I think there is something to be said about Kickstarter and IndieGoGo as a means of facilitating creative types getting their wares in the hands of patrons. Long ago, folks like DaVinci would hire out their works and skills to patrons who would pay them money so they could produce works and anything they made beyond the cost of the work DaVinci and others would roll into another project. I think it's wonderful that so many creatives are now being embraced for creating and try are able to spread their works around the world.
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