According to ICO Partners, a U.K.-based consultancy specializing in market analysis for online games, the first six months of 2016 only saw $8.2 million worth in pledges to video games on Kickstarted. On the opposite end, the first six months of 2015 saw more than $20 million was pledged to video games.
That's quite the difference. However, it's not all bad.
The first half of 2016 has seen a similar number of video games being submitted to Kickstarter than in the first half of 2015, but more projects getting funded overall. Which suggests that people are being more picky with what they are funding.
This could be due to a lack of large and ambitious projects or because the appearance of more 'spiritual successor' type games. More Kickstarter users have begun to turn their eyes away from games and donate to tabletop games, where they might see more of their investment get returned.
This trend in Kickstarter backers moving away from project funding might not be short-lived.
Kickstarter was dragged into the limelight prior to this news after the alleged failure that was Mighty No. 9 released. The Kickstarter game's development had won the trust of fans after it was made clear that game's legendary creator, Keiji Inafune, who was responsible for Mega Man would be heading the project.
Unfortunately, the game was not as promised – at least in the eyes of some fans. Reviews for the game were horrible and Inafune even called Might No. 9 "better than nothing." Unfortunately, this sense of betrayal has not left fans, which could leave backers of Mighty No. 9 less likely to support Kickstarter games as often.
[Polygon]
