For me crowdfunding is a completely new era for cRPG gaming. It opened the road for RPGs both good looking and hardcore at the same time. I have backed 14 projects so far and large part of my money that I reserve for gaming goes to crowdfunding projects. I know that I can’t play them immediately. But I’m more than happy, because I have something that I didn’t have one year ago: hope for the future of cRPGs
Before crowdfunding era, single player RPG making has divided into two separate ways. There’re big budgeted AAA titles that have action gameplay, shiny graphics and much cinematics. And indie RPGs with strong loyalty into the roots of RPGs, but lack of enough presentation, graphics etc. Middle sized RPG development has died at the beginning of 2000s. I’m a great fan of Infinity Engine games, Fallout 1-2, Arcanum, ToEE, Wizardry 8, Might &Magic 6-8. But as we all know well games in the veins of these games from big publishers are impossible. Indie developers can provide these game mechanics, but they are mostly failing at presentation.
Crowdfunding provided fresh blood for the market. And it has many advantages. With this system many independent companies like Obsidian, Inxile or Double Fine can make games that we hardcore gamers wanted, rather than publishers’ PR guys wanted. Many great developers of the past either work at big companies to earn money or completely abandoned game development. Now crowdfunding gives them a chance to return to the scene.
But there’re also disadvantages. In order to make a middle budgeted RPG game you have to collect 500.000-1.000.000 $. And to collect this money either you must be a somewhat famous developer or you have a popular license in your possession(even this isn’t enough in some cases). *It’s nearly impossible for a non-famous developer to succeed at collecting that amount of money. So many potential has been wasting.