Video Game Funding

[Gentleman_Raven_]

Hello Commanders,
I was scrolling my Google feed and came upon an article saying that one of the other space games had amassed $325 million through Crowdfunding. Yet this space game has not had an official release, and honestly it looks like they don't plan to. (If I were a backer of this game, I'd be ed off, btw)
Now take Elite Dangerous which seems to have funding problems that are preventing the game from being progressed meaningfully.
Could Fdev have gone the route of that other space game and just had Crowdfunding indefinitely? I wonder if we would be experiencing a much different game if there had been a constant flow of cash to Elite.

 

[LeoBartlet]

Hello Commanders,
I was scrolling my Google feed and came upon an article saying that one of the other space games had amassed $325 million through Crowdfunding. Yet this space game has not had an official release, and honestly it looks like they don't plan to. (If I were a backer of this game, I'd be ed off, btw)

uh huh

Now take Elite Dangerous which seems to have funding problems that are preventing the game from being progressed meaningfully.

Since when?

Could Fdev have gone the route of that other space game and just had Crowdfunding indefinitely? I wonder if we would be experiencing a much different game if there had been a constant flow of cash to Elite.

No.

 

[Vernier]

one of the other space games had amassed $325 million through Crowdfunding.

Which game?

 

[Trailstorm]

Which game?

Scam Citizen lol

 

[Gentleman_Raven_]

Scam Citizen lol

View attachment 263197

"Scam Citizen", that is a perfect name for it.

 

[thistle]

Scam Citizen lol

View attachment 263197

AARRRRGHH! Not the evil photoshop again?! Have mercy!

 

[Deleted member 110222]

AARRRRGHH! Not the evil photoshop again?! Have mercy!

 

[VR Golgot]

I guess it depends if you want the Panther Clipper to cost $1000. And to still not be out

SC’s funding model is a trap. They have to keep selling new exciting products to sustain funding. The new exciting products must include exciting new functions to make them exciting...

So the dev work never ends, the game designers never get a handle on what the game is supposed to be, and the game itself stays in a permanent alpha state…

They do have outside investors now though. A publisher of sorts. They will have to finally hit a release deadline eventually. (But the only way to do that will be to cut out a load of stuff they’ve pre-sold…)

There are many dubious funding models out there. This one has gotta be near the top

 

[amigacooke]

It's a clandestine Star Citizen thread.

Good luck, I won't let on to the mods.

 

[Pville_Piper]

Don't get around much do you...

 

[Amanojaku]

Net income

GB£19.9 million (2021)

They're okay

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Net income

GB£19.9 million (2021)

They're okay

Yep. Whatever reason you want to put for Elite Dangerous / Odyssey having the problems it has, a simple lack of cash isn't really it. It's not The Most Expensive Game Ever but it's not like they've been short of cash as a company for years.

I wonder if we would be experiencing a much different game if there had been a constant flow of cash to Elite.

In practical terms, there has been - they sold about 750,000 copies of the game a year for the first five years (about half of which also bought the Horizons expansion), and then lots of people bought Odyssey this year. Even assuming most of those copies were bought in sales (this was before the Epic giveaway), that's still several million pounds a year of income, plus however much the cosmetic shop makes.

Odyssey has been a sufficient mess that their post-release sales are probably a fair bit down on what they were hoping for, but that obviously can't have been relevant to the state it originally released in.

If they'd had significantly more money, they'd still have made multiplayer Elite, so I don't think it would have been that different to what we have now.

 

[Achtung-Goomba]

"Scam Citizen", that is a perfect name for it.

I like Star Citizisnt

 

[Gentleman_Raven_]

Net income

GB£19.9 million (2021)

They're okay

Not $325 million okay.

Net income

GB£19.9 million (2021)

They're okay

That is split between the dozen games Frontier has, so if divided up roughly even that's 1.6 million per game.
The other space game has over $300 million for one game.
Y'all seriously think one amount is "okay" comparatively?

 

[Achtung-Goomba]

Not $325 million okay.

That is split between the dozen games Frontier has, so if divided up roughly even that's 1.6 million per game.
The other space game has over $300 million for one game.
Y'all seriously think one amount is "okay" comparatively?

It’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it

 

[Space Menace]

Two threads knocking SC. Wasn't one enough for you..

 

[Florenus]

Hello Commanders,
I was scrolling my Google feed and came upon an article saying that one of the other space games had amassed $325 million through Crowdfunding. Yet this space game has not had an official release, and honestly it looks like they don't plan to. (If I were a backer of this game, I'd be ed off, btw)
Now take Elite Dangerous which seems to have funding problems that are preventing the game from being progressed meaningfully.
Could Fdev have gone the route of that other space game and just had Crowdfunding indefinitely? I wonder if we would be experiencing a much different game if there had been a constant flow of cash to Elite.

The problem Elite has is that it delivers a game that is advertised as finished product, so people complain about bugs and lacklustre features, because that's not what they expect finished game to look like, or they wanted more when it started.
That other "game" continously sells promises - a dream. Everything that is wrong with it can be blamed on it still being in "alpha", or "too ambitious to be created in one lifetime" or whatever. It constantly needs more money, so if anything is wrong with it, it's obviously player's fault - they've not bought enough ship pictures, or whatever to make it happen. I've seen all kinds of excuses people make and it's just ubeliveable.

I'm glad Frontier is not scamming people that way. Sure Odyssey launch was a mess and it still is in Beta/Alpha stage, but at least they fix things and we actually have working (better or worse at the moment) game, not a tech demo in infinite development.

 

[thistle]

Not $325 million okay.

That is split between the dozen games Frontier has, so if divided up roughly even that's 1.6 million per game.
The other space game has over $300 million for one game.
Y'all seriously think one amount is "okay" comparatively?

Actually, it's you that's comparing apples and oranges. $300 million income. Not profit.

Fdev:
Revenue May 2020 was £76million, profit was £16million.
Revenue May 2021 was £90million, profit was £19million.

RSI/CIG/CI/whatever the next shell company is called:
total revenue $325 million over a decade (using your numbers).
But what is their profit? I can tell you now they've been running close to a loss in recent years, often actually in the red, only saved by outside investments. Think about that.

Basically, fdev make ~16million profit per year currently.
CIG are "fundraising" and just about breaking even, in the good years. The total take isn't relevant, other than for future academic papers and Theranos style documentaries.

One is a business. Is what I'm saying.