Square Enix getting in on Crowdfunding

[BrotherRool]

Hold on a second, it's not as terrible as it sounds

* The developers get to keep their IP
* Apparently the 'majority of the sales' will go to the developer or be reinvested in the crowdfunding platform
* SE checks to see if the developer is capable of delivering on their promise
* Some of SE's older IPs will be up for grabs (particularly old Eidos ones)

Basically developers can post an idea to the Square Enix Collective Platform where players can then critique and give feedback on the game. After 28 days SE will see if the idea seems feasible and is popular, and if so SE will collaborate with Indiegogo to get the game funded. If successful SE will distribute the game

I'm not completely sure of what I think of this, but something to give crowdfunded games an extra publicity boost and giving the creators feedback before putting their name on the lines seems like a good idea. And from a player perspective, if Square Enix's checks are at all effective in determining the capability of finishing the project it seems like a good idea.

On the other hand, publishers using consumers to burden the risk of actually publishing a game is not something that I would like to see become accepted. This seems fine at the moment, but how honest are SE being and is this a first step down a dark road?


http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/201892/Square_Enix_adopts_crowdfunding_model_for_new_program.php

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Ehh, I don't like Indiegogo.

If the campaign doesn't reach the goal the creator can still keep the money already raised instead of returning it.

I predict it'll rapidly full up with crap and joke projects unless there is some serious curation on SE's side.

I'll stick with Kickstarter and Greenlight for now thanks.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Wasn't the point of crowd-funding games that devs didn't have to deal with a publisher?

 

[StriderShinryu]

I have no real issue with this, and it may actually open to the door to some of those constantly appearing fan tribute style projects getting official support and approval. Square certainly does have access to a very respectable line up of IP that it isn't really doing anything with.

 

[Another]

I don't disagree with it. However, my gut tells me that a publisher as big as Square should not be asking for crowdfunding.

I mean, why can't they just get feedback for the prospective game and fund it themselves if it has a good response, instead of relying on indiegogo? I won't completely knock it until we see what happens, but it feels odd.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Quite an interesting idea. Square help out smaller developers in many ways that matter, with funding being the only actual omission. On the basis that they're likely taking only a small cut of resulting profits, overall it sounds like a good idea. Small dev teams get guidance from an industry mainstay, feedback from a playerbase, potential access to older, known properties and a "Backed by Square" seal of approval for the crowdfunding which is a little reassurance.

Sounds like a beneficial relationship to me overall. I remember a post from an Obsidian chap who got a call from a major publisher about publishing Project Eternity, where they own the IP and publish it without any funding. They were obviously given a polite no. This is a good way for big publishers to get involved in crowdfunding. They lend expertise, their name, publishing and we may see old favourites come back to the mainstream with a new twist while small developers reap the financial reward.

 

[Gennadios]

I think SE is just throwing shit at walls to see what sticks right now. Everything they've been trying lately was a sloppy disaster.

Their freemium mobile attemps are so bad I can't even call them games.

Their AAA releases are so bloated that they dont make money even when the games are good.

I'm sure they'll f*ck this up somehow, but only time will tell.

 

[go-10]

so how long before hundreds of Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger remakes are proposed :/

I don't know how they intend to control this but is it really that hard for Square Enix to just stop releasing ios/android games and invest that money elsewhere

 

[Atmos Duality]

Perhaps I'm just not cynical enough today, but this doesn't seem like the first step towards the crowdsourcing doomsday people make it out to be.

As long as the developers retain creative and financial control of their project once funded, this seems like a good way producing games for IPs that would just be sitting dead in Squeenix's back pocket because their higher ups don't see them as profitable enough.

"It's a way of making the gamers front most of the risk so the publisher doesn't have to. If a publisher is involved, it aint indie, man!" *hipster snap*

A pretty cynical outlook, and one I understand given my own pessimism and endless snark towards modern AAA publishers.
(especially Squeenix, whom I have had long time issues with)

Perhaps it's futile, but I'm going to try and approach this pragmatically anyway.

Spoiler: Deep breath

The IPs going up are all "niche" in the publisher's eyes, and their respective "niche gamers" who are sharing the financial burden are logically the only market that actually gives a damn about the otherwise dead IP.
So, why the hell would Squeenix start meddling in development? Without that niche market, there's no point to the project in the first place.

Also, this isn't The Producers; they can't keep the backer's money because once funded it goes into development and any backers pushing a project are assumed to have a stake in THE GAME and not the revenue.

(A major mistake some people seem to make with crowdfunding is directly equating the motivations of publicly traded stock. The motivations of Publicly traded companies is FINANCIAL PROFIT. They're chasing money.
The other backers are GAMERS who are primarily motivated by getting GAMES. Quality games at the best price possible yes, but without the fragging games nothing matters here!)

Squeenix may not have any motivation but using its otherwise dead niche-IP for profit (and profit they desperately need), but that doesn't mean gamers cannot also profit from this in the form of games.

According to the article, the program will let the developer keep the bulk of their revenue and most of their creative freedom, since they will effectively get the IP.

(I assume it isn't absolute creative freedom, but that offered in the pitch to Squeenix.
Not even in the most desperate of circumstances can I see Squeenix hypothetically approving of a FF7 spinoff title about Red XIII sodomizing Aeristh ala Rule 34, no matter how big of a niche market there might be for that. *shudders uncomfortably*
[sub]And yes, I know they wouldn't put Final Fantasy into this program. It's a hypothetical example, you pedant.[/sub])

Which is still a damn sight better than being fully owned by said publisher, where even if a game becomes THE best seller on the market, the developer is still paid peanuts compared to what the publisher gets and whose future projects are further subjected to whatever bland paste Marketing just derived from a wad of generalized sales data.

More importantly for us: We get to see what's being pitched (we have to, if we're potential backers).
So even if you don't like the direction the approve projects are going, nobody is forcing you to participate.

Finally, if this encourages OTHER FULLY-INDEPENDENT developers to compete and produce games you actually want that are in the same vein as the "native IP", all the better.

So, suspending my usual indie-gamer-hipster snark for a moment, this doesn't seem that bad to me.
Maybe I'm wrong and there's some legal entrapment I don't know about or secret clause that only the developers can see where Squeenix will secretly send threats about raping puppies with a red-hot 9-Iron if the developer doesn't also include some of their bullshit.

I'll have to wait and see.

But conceptually, even if it's not "purely indie", this seems like a fair tradeoff to give some dead IP another chance and under people who presumably actually give a fuck about said IP rather than some suit looking for another bland cash cow they can milk annually.

If nothing else, it will make for an interesting show to see a major publisher like Squeenix actively stumbling over crowdfunding.

It's not a guarantee of course; nothing is guaranteed. Every project comes with risk.
But considering that for most of those IPs, it's either a small risk or "It's still dead, Jim" maybe it's worth looking at.

So to conclude..Maybe a pithy line will get my inner cynical hipster going again..
If you want something badly, the quickest way to fail at getting it is to not try.

 

[RandV80]

Yeah I'm on board as well. Reading the title this sounded like a horrible idea but seeing the details it's actually not that bad. As long as Square remains transparent with their involvement the developers can still maintain a proper level of independence from the publisher. The way I'm reading it rather than act as publisher Square involvement will be around licensing out their old IP. And considering that they're now Square-Enix, as someone who's still a big fan of this 'niche' there's a whole lot of old IP I'd love to see get resurrected. Though most of it isn't necessarily Square-Enix, but I'd back a new Ogre Battle game day 1.

 

[moseythepirate]

I'm on board if only for the shadow of a glimmer of a chance of a new Ogre Battle game.