If you had any doubts about Tim Schafer’s capacity to tap the crowdfunding well — or the public’s passion for another Psychonauts — then by the time you read this, your concerns will be corrected.
Tim Schafer and Double Fine have copped plenty of criticism over the years for the state and progress of their projects, but that hasn’t hurt public demand for a sequel to Psychonauts. The game has a goal of just over $4.5 million (Australian dollars), and by the time you read this story the campaign will have surpassed $2.5 million.
It’s an impressive figure given that the campaign has only been active for a few days. Just hitting the target alone will make Psychonauts 2 one of the most successful crowdfunded games of the last 12 months, although probably not as successful as projects like Exploding Kittens (and probably not as much as Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night or Shenmue 3). Over 12,000 backers have supported the project, and the average pledge from backers at the time of writing is a staggering $152 (rounded down to the nearest dollar).
The numbers of backers is also impressive considering Double Fine’s track record. Double Fine abandoned Spacefine DF-9, a game that came through the studio’s Amnesia Fortnight jam, last year after revealing it was costing more money to develop than they were making. Broken Age was split into two parts after Double Fine realised it didn’t have enough money to finish the project, and the game was significantly delayed to boot.
Even the Fig page for Psychonauts acknowledges Double Fine’s spotty history with delivering rewards on time, with one of the FAQ questions directly aimed at people who backed Broken Age but are yet to receive their physical rewards. The Broken Age art-book, for instance, isn’t due to be shipped until next year and the Blu-Ray of the game is also still in production.
Massive Chalice, however, launched earlier this year to a reasonable reception and the launch of Grim Fandago Remastered in late January was largely well received. And the pace of funding for Psychnoauts 2 shows that Tim Schafer still commands a significant amount of love and respect among gamers. The project is currently 55% funded and, as it stands, it’s only a matter of when, not if, the sequel gets funded.
Comments
21 responses to “By The Time You Read This, Psychonauts 2 Will Have Raised Over $2.5 Million”
By Grabthar’s Hammer, what a swift funding effort. I thought they might struggle to meet the target after the questionable performance of Broken Age and DF-9 but I guess Psychonauts 2 is the one everyone was waiting for.
Especially after Indivisible only managed to make their goal a couple of days prior to the time limit.
And Indivisible needed an extension too
I don’t get all the hate on Broken Age.
Maybe it’s cause I didn’t get so emotionally invested, but I put down my pledge, got part 1 some time later, and a little after that got part 2 at no extra cost. There were tons of updates as it progressed too (some kickstarters are lucky to get one every 6 months).
I just don’t get it, it’s like people disregard how other projects go and just set arbitrary unreasonable expectations.
The problem with Broken Age was they raised significantly more than they asked for then didn’t plan the development properly around that increased budget – raising the question of whether they would have been able to make the game on the original budget. They had to release the first half of the game prematurely just to sell it to people who hadn’t already backed it, so they could raise funds to finish the second half. Granted, they set out knowing it was a gamble hence why part of the project was the documentary about the process, but it certainly painted a picture of questionable management.
I read the story, they hadn’t surpassed 2.5 million! You lied to me Kotaku!!!
I think they mean $2.5 million AU, not US.
Casual’s right: the figures I used in the story are Australian dollars, not US.
That’s a bit misleading, when the number we’re all thinking of is the $3.3 target.
Can’t please everyone, I guess!
People have complained before about amounts being in US figures and not Australian, but it makes more sense for everything to be in local currency IMO.
I’m still not really sure the whole “Average per backer” calculation is meaningful in these types of stories. At a quick calculation, around 2/3 to 3/4 of the backers paid less than the average, with half the backers not even contributing half the average. It looks like the pace has slowed in the past couple of days but at this point it looks like it’s on track to being funded.
(Disclaimer: I am just an armchair market analyst)
Yeah, the most Kickstarter funds are always raised in the first couple of days and the last couple of days, with large deadzones in the middle of campaigns. It’s interesting, however, seeing the amount of backers that get on board with a project.
Cant believe people are giving these guys more money. Don’t get me wrong, nothing but respect for Tim… But his company needs to hire accountants that can actually manage their funds.
I’m not sure I understand how the “investing” part of this crowdfunding platform works for a game like this. Won’t most people that want it, crowfund and get it? I figure that afterwards there may be a trickle of additional sales, but once you divide the meagre profit they get by 12k+, we’ll be talking about fractions of a cent.
Nah, only the really eagre/money wasters will kickstarter it. Most will come after its early access or released.
Pretty sure you only get a cut of the profits if you’re an “Accredited Investor” who’s invested more than $1,000.
Aparently an “Accredited Investor” is someone who made $250,000 last year and expects to do so again, or has a net worth (minus the home) of $1mil+
The investment details, and a return slider are here:
https://www.fig.co/campaigns/psychonauts-2/invest
After funding a few games a cpl yrs ago which havent been released or have run out of money, I think its wisest to wait.
probably the most I’ve given a crowdfunded thing. I really want this game, so don’t let me down Tim!
I’m glad I never played Psychonauts. Looking at this guy’s history with crowd funding, I can’t believe anyone is giving him money. Whatever, hope people are careful and don’t give him more than they can afford to light on fire.
I like how two days after this article is posted, it still hasn’t.