Ponencia en Colombia 3.0

1. Kickstarting Shadowrun
Returns
Adventures in Crowdfunding
Mitch Gitelman
Co-Founder, Harebrained Schemes
Seattle, WA

2. Our Aging Hero
• Designer, Mayfair Games 1993
• Founded Pompeii Design Studio in 1994
• Creative Director @ a horrible game co.
• Joined FASA Interactive in 1996
– Producer/Designer MechCommander Series
– Developed Crimson Skies IP
• FASA acquired by Microsoft 1998
– Producer, MechAssault - 1st game on Xbox LIVE
– Executive Producer, Crimson Skies
– Studio Manager, FASA Studio
– Director, Digitally Distributed Games
– Director, Xbox Live Arcade 1st Party Studio
• Co-Founder, Harebrained Schemes

3. It is a Time of Disruption...
• 2005 – Guitar Hero, casual is good
• 2006 – Wii, Social is better
• 2008 - App Store, cool kids playing
• 2008 – Farmville, virtual goods okay
• 2009 – Words w/Friends, social & mobile
• 2009 – iOS IAP, free-to-play explodes
• 2010 – iPad, gaming in bed

4. It is a Time Undreamed of. . .
• Gamers are almost normal
• Playboy’s PMOM is out of the closet!
• Game development is considered a
viable career path (wait, what?)
• Even game development schools exist
• 2012 - Kickstarter, crowdfunding

5. The Rise of Crowdfunding
• Crowdfunding is another tool to
monetize your game...
• ...before you’ve finished it
• In some cases, before you’ve even
started it

6. And Here, our Adventure Begins
kickstarter.com

7. Crowdfunding Basics
• Find your audience
• Share your vision
• Tell your story
• Prove you can do it
• Keep in touch

8. The Pitch
• Keep the video professional, but personal
– Don’t over-produce it
– Show your face ASAP
– People want to be part of a story
• KISS
– Keep It Simple, Stupid
• Hierarchy of information
– Video
– Graphics
– Text
– Better yet, embed key info into graphics
• Remember most people ONLY look at the videos
• Don’t count on key messages in body copy or FAQ

9. Before You Start
• What worked and what didn’t?
• What funding ranges worked?
• What reward tiers worked?
• What reward swag worked?
• What elements of the videos, text &
graphics worked?
• What is the right “ask”?

11. Update Videos

12. Respond to Your Audience
• Answer questions - promptly
• Say thank you – personally
• Participate in the dialog – constantly
• Publish new content – regularly
• Sleep – when it’s over
• And BEWARE of Stretch Goals
– Don’t over-commit development
– Researched your rewards
– Prepare your stretch goals

13. Stretch Goals

14. Social Media Outreach
Banner
Profile
#shadowrunreturns Pic

15. Market the Funding
• You need to bring your audience to
the funding site
• Reach them where they live
– Online
– Offline
• Creatively use social media
• Drive for high initial velocity

16. New Reward Levels and Swag

17. Know Your Costs
• Digital Distribution
– Server, bandwidth, etc
– 30% platform fees
• Cost of Goods
– Low volume manufacturing = high unit costs
– More items = lower production per item
• Design and Management Costs
– Everything that takes time costs your project
• The 3 horseman of the funding apocalypse
– Picking, Packing, & Shipping

18. The Numbers
• Campaign ran for 25 days
• Over 36k Backers
• 35 written & video updates
• Over 14k Posts on Kickstarter
– Plus emails
– Plus Facebook
– Plus, plus, plus
• $1.9m in funding

19. The Progress

20. The Opportunity
• A chance to Validate
• A chance to Innovate
• A chance to Dream

21. The Dream
Distance

22. Game development has
become democratized

23. Crowdfunding Sites
• Kickstarter
• IndieGogo
• Gamebitious
• Fundeadora

24. The Deluge
• The floodgates have opened
• The novelty is over
• The marketplace is crowding
• Differentiation remains king
It is a Time of Adventure. . .

25. It is a Time Undreamed of. . .

26. It’s the AGE OF THE INDIE

27. Questions?
mitchgit@hbs-studios.com
www.harebrained-schemes.com