I'm stoked for Moria too- did you download the "beta" release?
DC20 Kickstarter launch on June 4th
- Thread starter AK81
- Start date
It's so pretty.
Neither 13A nor SotWW nor PF2 have sizeable dedicated YT audiences- MCDM's record-setter was because of Matt Colville's YT following. I don't know DC20's creator well but he's a popular YT creator. That's where all this stuff starts- monetizing your YouTube audience; and I don't know that an existing company like Paizo could create a figurehead like that.
TwoSix
"Diegetics", by L. Ron Gygax
Tough to say. Looking at the list of million dollar kickstarters, a lot of them were post pandemic and quite a few of them haven't even gotten the physical releases to the supporters yet.
And quite a few of them are add-ons and supplements for 5e.
Mothership and Shadowdark seem to still be doing pretty well, get mentioned fairly often on OSR adjacent sites, and I think still have new products coming out.
Shadowdark definitely feels like a success story in this regard.
I wonder if the is a dedicated crowdfunding RPG analysis blog out there somewhere. I know Morrus puts up numbers for the Million Dollar Kickstarter Club and such, but I am interested in what the post funding lives of these games look like.
TwoSix
"Diegetics", by L. Ron Gygax
It would be an interesting read, but probably a little niche and hard to gather relevant metrics for.
Belen
Hero
I would suggest looking at Cypher and Monte Cook as one of the most successful KS-funded RPGs. They run at least one Cypher related campaign a year.
Let's consider Roll for Combat, who have regular video streams and a PF2 actual play. Let's look at their last several crowdfunding campaigns.
Secret Dragons [$224K]
Monster Ancestries [$90K - Backerkit]
Legendary Races [$112K]
World of Battlezoo [$92K]
Eldamon/Strange and Unusual [$286K]
Bestiary/Dragons/Indigo Isles [$301K]
Like, yes, some of these are lower than 13th Age, but they are mostly in the same ballpark. While these are supplements and not core rules, they're also not building off a decade fanbase. I think 13th Age would've had a better showing if there was a greater effort to promote it on YouTube.
How about more traditional outlets? Did they come to ENWorld? (I know there was a blurb on a column about other Kickstarters.) But was there a deep-dive? An interview?
I don't think you grasped my point
Roll for Combat are YT content creators. You listed their successful crowdfunded projects. That's exactly what I said- YouTubers with dedicated audiences that will buy their stuff without batting an eye, because they're fans of the creators.
None of the 13A designers have big YT followings.
Jaeger
That someone better
They do insofar as they give a "turbo boost" to one's initial potential player base.
But if you want to increase your games reach and network effect, the follow up matters a whole lot more.
"Unsupported" games player networks tend to shrink over time.
Lots of chatter out there - you have to do something to seperate yourself from the pack.
And being an established "game designer" isn't enough on its own anymore. That being said, it sure seems to help when you have made your name in the 5e sphere first...
Similar Threads
