Kickstarter can be a great way to fund some homebrew talent, and there have been plenty of great gaming-related Kickstarters over the years.
Since its debut in 2009, Kickstarter has helped to fund over 80,000 projects, and while not all of them have turned out to be the game-changers that they promised their backers, there have been some real standouts over the years. Some of the most successful Kickstarter projects, both in terms of how much they've raised and how well they've been received after release, have been video game related.
Making video games is a pretty costly endeavor, and for indie developers, it's often an impossibility under normal circumstances. Thanks to crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, indie developers finally have the chance to level the playing field, and devote their time to their passion. Over the years this has resulted in some pretty spectacular video games, but when it comes to the most successful Kickstarters, most of them already have a recognizable brand attached.
The most successful video game-related Kickstarter project on this list, The Witcher: Old World is an expansive board game that takes elements from Dungeons and Dragons, and combines them with fast-paced battles and competitive gameplay. Set years before Geralt of Rivia's saga, The Witcher: Old World sees all five Witcher schools go head-to-head in a battle to secure the most monster trophies.
Each player takes on the role of a different Witcher school, assembling a unique deck of cards to take with them on their adventure. Players will need to build a deck of attack, defense, gear, and Sign cards, which they'll use to slay the board's roaming monsters. Players can gain more cards by completing quests, winning bets, and battling their fellow Witchers.
A massive expansion to the stellar board game The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, Requiem adds over 250 cards to the game, spread out between new room cards, monster cards, loot cards, and more. For those that have been playing Binding of Isaac: Four Souls since its December 2018 release, this upcoming expansion is sure to keep things exciting, adding a substantial amount of replayability to the game.
The card artwork and the mechanics of the game themselves imitate the source material perfectly, and help to capture the same intensity of its virtual counterpart. For fans of The Binding of Isaac, the base game is definitely worth a purchase, and the expansion looks to be an excellent addition when it launches later this year.
Causing some controversy at the time, the highly-anticipated Shenmue 3 sought to fund its development via Kickstarter, despite being supposedly backed by Sony and Deep Silver. Despite the controversy, Shenmue 3 became the fastest game to reach $1 million on the platform, and is still one of the most successful crowdfunded gaming projects in history.
Unfortunately, upon its release in 2019, fan and critical reception wasn't all that hot, with many complaining that the developer hadn't really taken on feedback from the previous games in the series, leading to Shenmue 3 feeling extremely outdated. Sales of Shenmue 3 also weren't that great, with the game never reaching the top 10 charts in Western regions.
Achieving its modest goal of $500,000 in just four hours, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night proved that the general gaming public were desperate for a Castlevania: Symphony of the Night spiritual successor. Thankfully, Ritual of the Night ended up being exactly that. Aside from the rough Nintendo Switch port, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night earned a great critical and fan reception in general, with players praising the game's throwback pixelated visuals and Castlevania-like level design.
Perhaps the most infamous gaming Kickstarter ever funded, Mighty No. 9 marketed itself as being a true Mega Man spiritual successor, helmed by one of the original creators of the series, Keiji Inafune. Mighty No. 9 received an unprecedented amount of backing for the time, being one of the first video game Kickstarter projects that were deemed truly successful.
Unfortunately, Mighty No. 9 failed to live up to its inspiration in just about every way, with lackluster visuals and animations, laughable dialogue, and barebones gameplay. Mighty No. 9 has lived on in infamy ever since, acting as a harsh reminder that sometimes projects don't always live up to the hype behind them, and that just because people have given their money directly to the creators, that doesn't mean the funds will be used effectively to make an inherently better game.
From his earliest gaming memories playing Spyro 2 on the PlayStation, to being obsessed with the swing-out animations in Marvel’s Spider-Man, Cameron has always been, and continues to be, in love with video games. What started as frenzied childhood discussions on Star Wars Battlefront 2 has transitioned into somewhat less frenzied breakdowns on…Star Wars Battlefront 2. It’s fair to say that video games are an integral part of Cameron’s life, and hopefully they’ll continue to be. You can find more of Cameron’s work on Twitter @CamSwan117
