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Gas Powered Games' 'Wildman' Kickstarter Update Asks If They Should Keep It Going
- Thread starter V_Ben
- Start date
As genuine as the video feels, it's not a decision the backers should make.
Best of luck to GPG anyway, they still have plenty of time to reach their goal. Unless it's one of those "the goal is X but I hope we reach Y!" kind of kickstarters...in that case they should just make it clear.
Best of luck to GPG anyway, they still have plenty of time to reach their goal. Unless it's one of those "the goal is X but I hope we reach Y!" kind of kickstarters...in that case they should just make it clear.
The gaming industry is brutal, definitely not a safe way to work if you have bills to pay and family to take care of, you could find yourself without a job at any moment.
They probably had other funding prospects that recently fell apart.
OccamsBlender
Member
I'd kill for another action RPG/RTS in the Populous vein, but I'm not sure if this is it.
Lordy, $1 million almost seems low for a game of this nature. Maybe they're just really efficient or maybe they've kept the scope narrow. That figure doesn't seem like enough to revive the company unless they get the game to market with that figure.
It's a pretty lean budget, but they do have their existing tech and tools that they can leverage which are presumably very mature by now and probably well suited to this sort of game.
I suspect that they were hoping for this Kickstarter to be wildly successful from the start, not just crawling towards the finish line for the minimum goal. In that case they probably could have kept employees around. This way they can't. And they probably informed the employees of this situation so now that it's looking likely the Kickstarter won't take off as hoped they have to let people go.
Reading the thread title I thought he was just craving for attention -- and then I saw the video... Damn, that was really hard to watch and heartbreaking.
Personally, I never paid much attention to this particular kickstarter, since it was announced to be a MOMA or whatever you call it. I fon't the world needs another one of those.
Personally, I never paid much attention to this particular kickstarter, since it was announced to be a MOMA or whatever you call it. I fon't the world needs another one of those.
Lee Chaolan
Member
One of those most touching videos I've ever seen on KS. Hope it funds.
Could've done with a wilhelm scream or two for better effect.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
This is sad and also a bit pathetic and I suppose a bit nice of him to be humiliated like that for his staff. Still not interested in the games though, kind of a shame they never followed Dungeon Siege with something truly spectacular. What of Kings & Castles?
from the Gas Powered Games wiki:
"On Jan 14, 2013, Gas Powered Games announced the Kickstarter project "Wildman", declared to be "An 'Evolutionary' Action RPG"[13] Four days later on January 18, GPG had to "let go of everyone except CEO Chris Taylor and one or two people" due to the poor reception from Kickstarter."
that was one hell of a gamble they tried to pull there, but unfortunately they didn't succeed. A shame really, I was a big fan of the Supreme Commander games.
"On Jan 14, 2013, Gas Powered Games announced the Kickstarter project "Wildman", declared to be "An 'Evolutionary' Action RPG"[13] Four days later on January 18, GPG had to "let go of everyone except CEO Chris Taylor and one or two people" due to the poor reception from Kickstarter."
that was one hell of a gamble they tried to pull there, but unfortunately they didn't succeed. A shame really, I was a big fan of the Supreme Commander games.
PapaJustify
Member
Still don't understand how 200k and 27 days left can be considered "bad reception"?
When truly successful Kickstarters often get anywhere from 200% to 700% of funding I suspect the true minimum goal was actually a lot higher.
Supreme Commander
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance
Space Siege
Demigod
Supreme Commander 2
Age of Empires Online
I'm sorry, but that's a pretty miserable list of games. Chris sounds like a very passionate man but like Peter Molyneux, he might be passionate but the games he makes just aren't that good. Maybe he's better off joining another team?
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance
Space Siege
Demigod
Supreme Commander 2
Age of Empires Online
I'm sorry, but that's a pretty miserable list of games. Chris sounds like a very passionate man but like Peter Molyneux, he might be passionate but the games he makes just aren't that good. Maybe he's better off joining another team?
crowdfunding isn't there to keep a whole company afloat though, that's just nearly impossible to do. Most of the successful kickstarters are mirco and small-scale projects with very few exceptions (Obsidian, Double Fine)
XANDER CAGE
Member
the original Supreme Commander is a real gem, at least.
It's worth adding that DFA wasn't meant to be a particularly big project - the originally-planned funding for the game was only $300,000 for a small ios-sized project. It grew accordingly with its success, of course.
This is kind of disingenuous. If you want a kickstarter to keep a company afloat, say that, and make your funding goal reflect that. If you're kickstarting a game for 1.1m, heading slowly towards that goal is a success. If they wanted a lot more money, then raise the target amount.
What if they just get the 1.1m? Is CTaylor saying that's not enough to keep his team? In which case, how does the game get made in time?
This is emotional blackmail. Be honest upfront what you need the funding for, and how much you need.
It's tragic people are losing their jobs, but be honest about what the kickstarter is.
What if they just get the 1.1m? Is CTaylor saying that's not enough to keep his team? In which case, how does the game get made in time?
This is emotional blackmail. Be honest upfront what you need the funding for, and how much you need.
It's tragic people are losing their jobs, but be honest about what the kickstarter is.
It is only conjecture that they might have low-balled the Kickstarter target hoping for more.
The suggestion from the video is that if they reach the goal, they can hire back staff and finish the game.
Right i guess that could be it
No really in the spirit of what kickstarter is though really, ie. this is thw amount f money i need to kickstart this
Wiktor
Member
My guess is that the reason is MS pulling the plug on AoE Online couple days ago.
Well that's fair enough I guess. In which case, I don't understand the panic? The kickstarter looks on track to reach its goal... ?
He explained in the video. He didn't want to gamble with the staff's livelihoods. If the kickstarter misses and they spend a month waiting to see if it's going anywhere, then they won't be able to pay severance & etc.
spindoctor
Member
I'm also of the opinion that they needed this Kickstarter to breeze past it's initial goal very quickly like some of the high profile projects have managed. When they realized that's not happening, they had to take this action. AOE Online getting shitcanned must have also contributed to the problems.
It's a shame it had to come to this. I don't know if the Kickstarter can be successful now. Even if they do reach 1.1 million, it's not enough to hire their whole staff back. If they do rehire everyone, it'll only keep them going for a matter of weeks. If they don't, what happens to the scope of the project? How can they deliver what they promised if they don't have the people to do it?
It's a shame it had to come to this. I don't know if the Kickstarter can be successful now. Even if they do reach 1.1 million, it's not enough to hire their whole staff back. If they do rehire everyone, it'll only keep them going for a matter of weeks. If they don't, what happens to the scope of the project? How can they deliver what they promised if they don't have the people to do it?
dollartaco
Member
Wiktor
Member
I doubt Wildman is a project the whole GPG would be working on, even in the best case scenario. My guess is he will just hire back the small Wildman team if KS makes it.
Imp the Dimp
Member
Can somebody some up what happened? Won't be able to watch the vid for another 6h.
Joseph Merrick
Member
you forgot to bold forged alliance. the best thing on the list
gpg is done if the kickstarter fails
Basically he started the Wild Man Kickstarter probably expecting to have to backed pretty early like other Kickstarters with big name game developers. It didn't happen, and it's unknown if it will make the target at all to get funded. As cash reserves are running low, they had to lay off a ton of people from the studio to ensure everyone gets all the payment they deserve.
Now he's updating the Kickstarter campaign to ask fans if he should keep going, and if it gets funded, try to hire as many of the staff back on to the team to make the game, or if he should just cancel the Kickstarter. It's pretty depressing to watch.
wastedyears
Member
He starts the project, a few days later realizes that he has to lay a bunch of people off, then essentially starts begging for money so he won't have to lay even more people off? He says the company needs more than a million dollar investment in a month or the almost fifteen year old company will fold completely? What, he wasn't aware of the company's finances before starting this money grab?
The man has the audacity to lay off his staff, then beg for a million dollars? And we should give him money because he feels bad for shit canning his employees? If a man with his reputation cannot get funding for his project through traditional methods, without relying on donations, then that should raise a red flag. A really, really large red flag.
The man has the audacity to lay off his staff, then beg for a million dollars? And we should give him money because he feels bad for shit canning his employees? If a man with his reputation cannot get funding for his project through traditional methods, without relying on donations, then that should raise a red flag. A really, really large red flag.
Supreme Commander was terrible. Supreme Commander 2 was so bad no one even cared to acknowledge it. It went to like $10 after a few weeks.
Sup Com is far from terrible.
Black Door
Banned
Although the plea is heartbreaking, it leaves doubts in my (and likely many other peoples') mind that he could actually deliver a quality product (or any product at all) if the company is shitting the bed that badly after only a week of pledging.
If this is happening on day four, what will happen on day 26? Like a poster above said, red flags.
If this is happening on day four, what will happen on day 26? Like a poster above said, red flags.
It hasn't failed yet though. Yes, he's begging, but he's still begging within the scope of the Kickstarter campaign!
Imp the Dimp
Member
Thank you, guys!
oconnomiyaki
Member
Hard to watch and I feel for the people who lost their jobs...
BUT...
I mean, if you can't keep your company afloat without crowd sourcing from Kickstarter, then you probably need to rethink your business model. I mean, everyone who funds it gets a copy (minimum pledge tier, here) so what happens after you finish and ship the game? Or do they believe that the audience would extend past the backers?
I dunno, the whole Kickstarter thing for major production seems janky. It's great if you want to fund someone making jam or a nice pack of playing cards, but for keeping businesses afloat?
BUT...
I mean, if you can't keep your company afloat without crowd sourcing from Kickstarter, then you probably need to rethink your business model. I mean, everyone who funds it gets a copy (minimum pledge tier, here) so what happens after you finish and ship the game? Or do they believe that the audience would extend past the backers?
I dunno, the whole Kickstarter thing for major production seems janky. It's great if you want to fund someone making jam or a nice pack of playing cards, but for keeping businesses afloat?
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