If this is the first time you've come across Outer Wilds it's a PC game that has you exploring space 20 minutes before the universe ends because of a sun going supernova. Each time you die, you come back to life with the knowledge of what happened before the sun went supernova… Which in theory means you could save the universe – if you're clever enough.
The winner of last years Independent Games Festival, Outer Wilds, has had its Alpha build downloaded over 90,000 times, so, you could say the game is pretty popular. Mobius Digital can't finish the journey to completing their game alone, thus they have joined up with Fig to be the first game up for crowdfunding on the new site.
Masi Oka might be best known for his role as Hiro on Heroes, but he's also the President of Mobius Digital and has been working alongside the creator of Outer Wilds, Alex Beachum, to bring the game life. “We’re excited about this opportunity because, as indie developers, creative control and IP ownership are critical,” said Oka. “Having a crowdfunding platform specifically targeted to games also allows us to reach and focus our marketing to the gaming community."
The developers have been hard at work finishing up the game, now all they need are the funds to keep moving forward.
Check out Fig and Outer Wilds here.
Justin Bailey, the former COO of Double Fine (Grim Fandango, Broken Age) has teamed up with game developer and Kickstarter veteran, Brian Fargo (inXile, Wasteland 2) to bring a new game crowdfunding platform that will change the way you support games.
Fig takes reward-based crowdfunding (like Kickstarter, you donate money for a reward) and adds investment into the game, meaning that you could potentially see returns for investing money into the game. Of course, Fig will still give you the ability to back a game for specific rewards, investing is an additional feature.
Investing is limited to Accredited Investors at the moment, but it will be available to everyone in the future.
“Games are one of the leading sectors in rewards-based crowdfunding and continue to evolve the whole medium; Fig’s approach is to customize our platform to what works best for games,” said Justin Bailey, CEO of Fig. “This includes supporting investment crowdfunding where the fans have the opportunity to participate in the financial success of the games they help make possible.”
This crowdfunding site is game specific, you won't be seeing things like mashed potato cookbooks looking for funding on there and it's run by industry veterans that you quite possible know.
Check out the advisory board for Fig:
Aaron Isaksen is an early investor and advisor in Fig, and has been working in the digital entertainment and games industry since 1999. Aaron brings years of game investing experience as a co-founder of Indie Fund. He is an organizer for IndieCade, Chairman of IndieBox, a frequent speaker at game conferences, and co-president of AppAbove Games.
Brian Fargo has been in the industry since 1983 having founded Interplay Entertainment. Interplay produced some of the biggest franchises of all time including Bard's Tale, Wasteland, and Fallout. Fargo formed inXile in 2002 and has raised $8.5 million for Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera and Bard's Tale 4 from crowdfunding.
Starting in games in 1991, he rose to become the President of Black Isle Studios in 1996. In 2003, Feargus co-founded Obsidian Entertainment as its CEO. Focusing on RPGs, he has helped develop or publish Baldur's Gate, Fallout 1 & 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Planescape: Torment, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Pillars of Eternity.
Tim Schafer is the President and CEO of Double Fine Productions, makers of many critically acclaimed games including Psychonauts and Brütal Legend. Tim also launched the record-breaking multi-million dollar crowdfunding campaign, Double Fine Adventure (aka Broken Age), which inspired a new era of crowd-funded indie titles.
