A major bone of contention many have with crowdfunding sites is that they are a risky proposition for those who choose to back a project financially. Since the likes of Kickstarter and IndieGogo first began gaining traction, there have been numerous stories of projects being cancelled, rewards that were meant to be sent to backers being forgotten about by the companies who had promised them, and other such unfortunate events that have caused many to completely lose interest in funding another project again. Even Kickstarter’s most recent success story, the record-breaking crowdfunding campaign for Shenmue 3, wasn’t without its fair share of controversy after it was revealed that the money being pumped in by fans was being used to gauge interest by Sony before the publisher would decide whether or not they’d contribute to its development, something which many believed should have been expressed prior to the campaign going online.
But now a new crowdfunding site going by the name of Fig is looking to add significant rewards for backers, by allowing them to opt to become investors of a game and therefore allow them to gain something akin to shares upon the game’s release, effectively ensuring that they will earn money if a game or game-related project becomes successful. The site isn’t being run by a bunch of amateurs, either – its CEO is Justin Bailey, the former COO of developer Double Fine, while its advisory board consists of his former Double Fine comrade Tim Schafer, along with Feargus Urquhart (Obsidian Entertainment), and Brian Fargo (inXile Entertainment).
Outer Wilds, developed by Mobius Digital, is the first ever Fig campaign.
All of these individuals have experienced their own degree of success on crowdfunding sites, and are therefore looking to create a site specifically related to video games that will give users an added incentive to pledge to projects outside of the obligatory backer rewards. While this doesn’t exactly do away with crowdfunding’s largest problem, it does add a whole new dimension to the platform in allowing equity investing. While these shares are only available to accredited investors at the site’s launch, Bailey states that eventually it will be opened up to non-accredited investors, ensuring that anyone with some money in their pocket and a bit of optimism when it comes to the future of certain video games will eventually be able to earn a share of a game’s revenue.
Speaking to Wired, Bailey pointed to the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset as an example of a project backed by gamers that should’ve seen them able to reap the rewards of its success, saying: “Look at what happened to Oculus. It was sold to Facebook for 2 billion dollars, and the people who were involved, the superfans who were getting behind Oculus to make that possible, they didn’t see any of that. It would seem like they should, since they had a pivotal role in that coming about.”
Fig’s concept is certainly an interesting one, and I’m keen to see whether they can actually make a dent in a market dominated by the likes of Kickstarter. Check it out over at Fig.co.
