KickStarter Fig - a new equity-based crowdfunding platform - shut down, RIP

[Blaine]

A lot of the neophytes from your year are pretty low-quality, Mustawd. You deserve to be promoted to 2014, or even 2013.

 

[Ninjerk]

even 2013.

Let's not get hasty, now.

 

[J_C]

I don't in any way blame Fig for using existing law, but at least one of Fig's founders has a history of 1.) mismanaging monies given him in order to complete projects (Broken Age); 2.) mismanaging the projects themselves (Spacebase DF-9); and 3.) making promises that he cannot keep. These points combined with the potential for abuse afforded by the new law is where I see most of the shadiness.

I only want to add one thing. We always end up at Tim, but the thing is, he works as a creative advisor at Fig, his job is to help select games to appear on Fig, and not using the Fig money. The money invested on Fig will be used by the developer, and if that developer mismanages their project, if will be their fault, not Fig's. Sure, Tim had problem with managing budgets at their own games. Well good that this time he doesn't do anything with money. Fig is only there the provide an opportunity to invest in games. After the campaign is over, they DON'T use that money, from that point it is up to the developer.

 

[Havoc]

his job is to help select games to appear on Fig,

That's bad.

 

[Infinitron]

Uh, speaking of Fig, that Jay & Silent Bob game ended up getting funded. Rock Band 4 didn't. And now, this: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...er-figstarter-live.107077/page-3#post-4471206

 

[Mustawd]

Uh, speaking of Fig, that Jay & Silent Bob game ended up getting funded

Truly, we are living in the III era.

 

[Jaklon]

On top of everything there is hollywood accounting to consider. There is no profit to be had even if they do have a hit. The money is all spent no matter what they take in....

 

[LESS T_T]

https://blog.fig.co/cliff-bleszinski-invests-in-fig/

Cliff Bleszinski Invests in Fig!

Esteemed developer, industry supporter and all around great guy, Cliff Bleszinski has invested in Fig, pledging to help us bring ambitious new projects to life through equity and reward-based crowdfunding. We are super excited to welcome Cliff, a believer that Fig can help game makers find passionate supporters for their projects while retaining creative control.

Everyone knows his work from the Unreal and Gears of War series, and recently Boss Key’s debut title LawBreakers. But Cliff is also dedicated to helping the industry grow in healthy ways, for game projects of all sizes to get made and be successful.

As the only funding platform created by gamers for gamers that offers rewards and investment based funding, we are grateful for our investors and advisors who are leaders in the industry – amazing to have you be a part of the Fig family, Cliff!

Cliff’s news comes at an auspicious time; in just one day, the successful campaign for Consortium: The Tower will conclude its campaign having surpassed its goal of $300,000 in less than a week.

Backed by another celebrated industry vet, Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Consortium: The Tower is an awesome single player sci-fi simulation game by iDGi, where your actions don’t just matter in one game but carry over to the next installment in the trilogy. We thank the over 2,800 backers thus far and can’t wait to see the campaign through to the finish line!

 

[Perkel]

So will Obsidian do PoE2 in FIG or not ?

 

[Ninjerk]

lol

 

[Mustawd]

So will Obsidian do PoE2 in FIG or not ?

Didn't Feargus say "definitely yes" or something like that?

I vaguely remember an interview posted by Infinitron in that regard.

 

[Infinitron]

He's said that if they ever do another crowdfunded game it would be on Fig.

 

[Perkel]

I mean why should they use kickstarter and pay 15-10% to kickstarter when they can themselves get money from FIG and at the same time promote it and get rich while someone else is getting money for you.

Kickstarter earned like shitload of money from 10% they are asking for.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Did Fig even catch on?

 

[Perkel]

Did Fig even catch on?

It would catch on if they would actually focus on some good game instead of their friends work blowjobs.

I get what they want (remove 10% kickstarter fee from their projects) but unless they actually themselves vommit via their big projects it won't go anywhere.
No amount of small indie stuff will give it reach they want.

Games as investement isn't really bad idea but i'd rather donate to something rather than view games as investment.

 

[Mustawd]

All Fig is right now is "Alternate Kickstarter for Fig advisory council's buddies or failed kickstarters" It won't catch on until the first few games start being released and the "investment" thing pans out or not.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Games as investement isn't really bad idea but i'd rather donate to something rather than view games as investment.

Are you sure you're talking about games? You're lucky if you see actual gameplay footage in most crowdfunding campaigns.
So far most game-related campaigns are 'gimme monies ive got cool ideas'. Ideally I'd play a vertical slice of the game before pledging/investing anything.

A lot of the neophytes from your year are pretty low-quality, Mustawd. You deserve to be promoted to 2014, or even 2013.

Nah, 2012 feels just right.

Spoiler

As long as it's not 20_12.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Fig works most of the time as far as getting the game funded, but it consistently fails to create any excitment. Every project so far died after reaching the goal. Which makes sense, people who want to "invest" won't get hyped about 15 level mega dungeons and start throwing more money.

 

[:Flash:]

Apparently figstarter has not yet payed out any investor money to developers, as it does not yet have the SEC approval it requires as an investment platform.

 

[Mustawd]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/psychonauts-2.105100/page-19

Registration with the SEC can take some time, and probably is an expensive process. I've been through an S-1 registration with the SEC and the whole thing was crazy complicated with auditors and lawyers.

This is probably not as complicated as an S-1, but it still will take time, and the fact that it hasn't been accepted tells me they probably underestimated how much red tape it would be. Fig isn't a publicly traded company, so their accountant probably doesn't have an SEC company background. I'm guessing they had to hire some accounting consultants, as well as a law firm, to get them through this.

anyway, yes it's more likely just red tape, and it will eventually get done. But again, for people who don't trust some of the project management of the companies involved (aka doublefine), it's probably not a heartening sign that they did not communicate possible delays to investors/backers.

I don't really understand how could they push Fig forward without sorting these things out first.

Happens all the time with private companies who are not accustomed to some of the rigorous standards and rules that the SEC requires. The company I referred to earlier promised their board (although not required for private companies, it's considered good corporate governance to have a board) that they'd go public with 3 or 4 different dates. But that was wishful thinking as the accounting was a freaking joke until they hired a brand new team from the ground up. They then replaced the CFO, and eventually fired the CEO when the board finally figured he didn't have the experience to take them public. Eventually this thing went public a year later, but it was a crazy shit show all the way to the end.

So yeah, it's not surprising. I'd say it's not necessarily time to get pissed at fig if you're an investor, but if this thing doesn't get off the ground in a few months, I'd seriously consider thinking about asking for my investment back. I'm no lawyer, so I don't even know if that's easily done.

 

[aratuk]

So, there hasn't been a new figstarter since the last one successfully completed in the first half of May. That's more than a whole fiscal quarter of no activity.

Although, they haven't actually been completely inactive. From their homepage, it looks like they have very tentatively branched out into marketing, with two campaigns totaling $2870 in ad spending. There was that, and a positive-sounding blog post from the end of June that provided a little more detail about how their "game shares" are going to work. They're gonna have ticker symbols, like the stock market! Psychonauts 2 is PSY2, and Grimoire is ΑΩ. Maybe dividends will be paid in 3D-printed figurines and phone-book-sized hint guides…

But I wonder, what gives? Presumably they'd have full-time staff who actually conduct the fundraising campaigns, and who wouldn't otherwise have a bunch of engineering, legal, or financial work to do if no campaigns were being conducted. After they got started, Fig was conducting a month-or-so-long fundraising campaign just about every month or so, until radio silence this summer.

Has anyone heard any good rumors, at least?

 

[Nekot-The-Brave]

We're still waiting for the unaccredited investors to be able to give them money. This has not happened yet.

 

[Bubbles]

Maybe Tyranny needs to be released first.

 

[Infinitron]

Right on time: http://www.polygon.com/2016/9/29/13...-review-unaccredited-psychonauts-2-investment

Every Fig backer can finally pony up for Psychonauts 2
Fig has completed SEC review, will fulfill its promise to non-accredited investors

The Fig equity crowdfunding platform has finally finished its review process with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. That means non-accredited investors who made reservations to fund games like Psychonauts 2 months ago now have the opportunity to actually purchase equity in the game.

Fig was launched more than a year ago with the goal of allowing fans to share in the profits earned by their favorite games. When it initially launched in August 2015, there were only two options available to fans: traditional, rewards-based backing and equity investment by accredited, high net-worth individuals. But starting in December 2015, Fig opened investment to non-accredited investors as well, meaning basically anyone can invest through Fig.

Non-accredited investment was included as an option in the campaigns for bothPsychonauts 2 and Consortium: The Tower. But the SEC review process dragged on for months. Reservations had been taken, but non-accredited investors’ money was not able to be collected until the review process ended. Now that the review is over, Fig and several development teams will need to chase down these non-accredited investors and get them to pay up.

All challenges aside, the SEC’s approval marks a huge milestone for Fig and its partners. They are now the first company able to take non-accredited investment for games, which puts them in a unique position in the crowdfunding industry.

"Enabling fans and communities to directly support and financially benefit from their favorite games is transformative to the publishing of interactive entertainment and beyond," said Justin Bailey, founder and chief executive officer of Fig, in a press release issued today. "Fig is committed to evolving video game publishing and crowdfunding in this direction that benefits fans, communities, and developers, and ultimately to the making of great games."

After many months without any campaigns, Fig has announced three in quick succession.Make Sail, a physics construction game focused on building and sailing boats, launched its campaign just yesterday. Next up is indie title Trackless, and later into October comes the campaign for InXile Entertainment’s Wasteland 3. All are expected to allow rewards-based, accredited and non-accredited investment options.

Polygon has reached out to the teams at Fig and Double Fine for more details, and expects to have additional information next week.

 

[Infinitron]