How will inXile handle a Post-Kickstarter world?

[DosBuster]

Something has occurred to me with the BT4 kickstarter, this may be the last successful Kickstarter inXile can pull off. Of course, BT4 is a less marketable product due to its obscurity, however, I think the question still deserves to be raised: Can inXile keep up their style of games and their design team without kickstarter to support them? Will they have to get a publisher?

 

[Tzaero]

After one more kickstarter I'll start to consider whether its still viable for InXile.
Right now we're basing our assumptions of viability on the back of one game with mixed reception and two subsequent kickstarters one of which underwhelmed the public but perhaps not Fargo's .
Once ToN, a possibly good game with wider appeal, comes out we'll see if they succomb to fatigue.

Nowadays theres plenty of people with cash to give away to crowd funding, stuff like Patreon and preorders haven't died.
Proper planning and publicity will get a decent amount at least.

 

[Infinitron]

I don't think Kickstarter is going anywhere, but I think they could handle it. Though they might have to make more sequels and slam dunks instead of radically changing concepts for each game

 

[Doktor Best]

How come people assume kickstarter will vanish? The initial hype died down and so kickstarter is not generating as much attention and pr as it used to, but still its a growing business AFAIK.

 

[Bigg Boss]

How come people assume kickstarter will vanish? The initial hype died down and so kickstarter is not generating as much attention and pr as it used to, but still its a growing business AFAIK.

Devs are seeing diminished returns on certain Kickstarters when they have received support on previous projects. Even with successful games. Someone pointed out that was the case with Shadowrun Returns and it's two sequels/expansions. InXile is another example. Did DoubleFine have a similar issue as well? I would say people are getting a lot more savvy about the whole Early Access/Kickstarter promise fulfillment and the lack thereof in many cases. Look at Keiji Inafune as another example. Red Ash hasn't received nearly as much support. Not to mention they want to release it in episodes? InXile needs to really sell me on their writing on the next game because Wasteland 2 didn't cut it. They also need to create new IP.

I'm still surprised more developers don't try to make RPG's set in the modern world. I'm tired of derivative RPG settings that are basically summed up in Fantasy, Post apocalyptic, Cyberpunk, and Steampunk. I dig the cRPG resurgence, but I would like more originality.

 

[Roguey]

Guise, look at how many millions Shenmue fucking 3 brought.

Bard's Tale did pretty great for a blobber, considering how much money other blobber Kickstarter campaigns raised/didn't raise. Anyone who thought this would get multimillions was in denial about how much of a niche they are.

 

[Sensuki]

They didn't put as much effort into the BT4 KS. There's no reason they couldn't get pretty good numbers for a Meantime or Van Buren or whatever though.

 

[Athelas]

Diminishing returns are obviously inevitable - there's only so many times you can sell people on a pitch along the lines of 'help us make our dream game and revive a dead genre'.

That may be counterbalanced by a strong brand. However, the most lucrative ones have already been exhausted, with the possible exception of Van Buren's connection to Fallout, however tenuous.

The other alternative would be to reach out beyond the audience of niche RPG's.

 

[SniperHF]

Their best chance at continued success both on KS and in general is knocking it out of the park with TToN. Nothing else matters.

It wont be happening anytime soon but I'd be really curious to see what a straight up WL3 slamdunk sequel would do on KS. I'd bet it would have outpaced BT4 anyway just because it breaks out of the niche even if it's a rehash.

If all else fails, suppose they could try their hand at Larian style compartmentalized venture capital.

 

[Abu Antar]

I'm not surprised that TBT4 didn't break two million. It's all about the brand and type of game. A blobber that got as much money as TBT4 is still impressive.

If their games sell well enough, they could survive for some time. Their games are also all console friendly, as in, they don't use rtwp so they could work with a controller. And as another way to survive, if their games get good enough reviews, they can always pitch games to publishers.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I gave a lot of cash to the Wasteland 2 and Torment Kickstarters but didn't give a penny to Bard's Tale 4. I'd rather play a shitty mobile game than a dungeon crawler - that is how much I hate them. I think there are a lot of others like me, who will pitch in for an RPG with reactivity, story and interesting ideas but not to something that is all about combat.

 

[LeStryfe79]

BT4 will sell gangbusters once it's released. Trust me, I'm always right 80 proof of the time.

 

[ZoddGuts]

The BT series wasn't exactly well known plus Inxile couldn't attach to some more well known IP like they did with Wasteland --> predecessor to Fallout!, Torment ----> spiritual sequel to Planescape Torment! I see them doing better with Van Buren just by connecting it to the Fallout series if they do a KS. Also they had some bad timing with the BT4 KS with E3 and the announcement of Shenmue 3 KS took a lot of attention away from BT4. Just look at the funding during E3, shit flatline during E3 week.

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/inxile/the-bards-tale-iv/#chart-daily

 

[mondblut]

I am sure they'll make a plenty of sales to recoup the budgets. Which means they'll have all those KS moneys they got before right back on their account. The only problem is that they'll have to risk putting in their own earnings into future products rather than crowdpiling the budget from fanboys.

 

[Morality Games]

Something has occurred to me with the BT4 kickstarter, this may be the last successful Kickstarter inXile can pull off. Of course, BT4 is a less marketable product due to its obscurity, however, I think the question still deserves to be raised: Can inXile keep up their style of games and their design team without kickstarter to support them? Will they have to get a publisher?

They should have enough money from Wasteland 2 to keep the lights on for 4-5 years. Even with the looming RPG glut, Torment should secure them just as much and almost certainly more.

If their console ports perform well then the sky's the limit, they can keep doing whatever until they retire.

Thing is, I find is very unlikely that any of the games Fargo has trademarked will sell for less than $4,000,000 (including KickStarter funds), and if they don't reach that number then they have some margin for mistakes.