Successful video game projects on Kickstarter flatline while tabletop spikes
In 2017, only one-in-eight successful game projects on the platform were video games
More game-related projects were funded on Kickstarter in 2017 than any other previous year, but video games continued to flag on the platform.
Luke Crane, head of games at Kickstarter, revealed on Twitter that the number of game projects launched on the platform was 7,033, just under half of which (2,997) were successfully funded.
Last year, only $17 million was pledged to video game projects on Kickstarter compared to over $136 million offered from board game backers.
Based on data provided to Polygon by Kickstarter, crowdfunding for games overall in 2017 was up by 29%. Tabletop accounted for the majority of this spike with an increased overall backing of 36%, and average support per-campaign rising from $59,000 to $65,000. The number of projects successfully funded was up by 400 to over 2,100 across the year.
Meanwhile the number of video games successfully backed was 358, down by 30 on 2016. There was still a modest increase in the average support however, which rose slightly from from $45,000 to $48,000.
Earlier last year, ICO Partners released data illustrating that the number of successful board game campaigns had been steadily growing since the launch of Kickstarter, while video games remained consistent. According to the data, around one quarter of video game projects succeed, compared to two thirds of board game projects.