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Square Enix announces Collective - An IG powered, SE curated Kickstarter competitor

A new way to phoenix-down moribund IPs. As SE considers it too risky (and has a shit-ton of dead IPs), that's a lazy and risk-free decision-making process.

Too soon to judge the whole thing, but it might work IMO.
 
Dali said:
Sounds like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo. I don't see the draw other than an extra layer of bs. Campaigns on these services are already talking directly to core gamers.
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It is quite literally IndieGoGo, as after you get past Collective, your game shows up on IndieGoGo.
 
I get what they're trying to do here, but a company the size of Square Enix using crowd-funding doesn't sit right with me at all.
 
Brokun said:
Was just about to post this.

I like it, it seems really cool
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You know, I would be just bursting with excitement at the thought of a company right now trying to have better communication with their fans.

But it catches me completely off guard and is hard to believe, given the incredibly poor communication between Square Enix and their fans we are currently seeing.

It's easy to believe that Inafune and comcept want to open things up and work with fans. Square Enix, less so. If Square actually mean this, then that's great. But they have several years of heavy distance and poor relations to put me in a state of a little bit of confusion and disbelief. It seems like going from one extreme to another.

A distant, high end game development corporation, that has ignored and given service to fans in desperate need of improvement. Seemingly cold and calculated, only caring about money. To trying to open up the entire process and become like Kickstarter or Indiegogo or like Steam Greenlight? It's a jarring transition, to say the least. And hard to take seriously, as much as I don't want to say it.
 
Black Republican said:
So Gaf is gonna fund a real Soul Reaver game right? Right?
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do-it.gif
 
Nirolak said:
It is quite literally IndieGoGo, as after you get past Collective, your game shows up on IndieGoGo.
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Yeah I mean reading the description you expect the reward of the vetting process would be funding... But it's... You get to put your pitch on IndieGoGo and square will chip in some advice?
 
The fact that this begins with a concession that traditional publishers do not provide value to independent developers and that a different process is needed in order for publishers to provide value is good and true. Square Enix has published a bunch of DD games, many of them seem like they'd be no worse off and possibly better off if they had full ownership of their stuff and operated independently. So in that sense this is smart.

However, the service to me seems like a misfire. It seems like the more useful way that Square Enix could add value without acting like a gatekeeper or reinventing the wheel would be to just approach projects that are on IGG or KS and offer to help with distribution or publishing after the fact. Kickstarter even allows curated collections of projects by entities--I am sure they would allow Square Enix to curate a collection.

The actual community-based feedback mechanism seems useless and generally poor. The community has an important role to play in beta testing, tuning balance, and offering post-release suggestions but it strikes me that pre-release feedback will have a tendency to inflate scope and distort the core essence of the project.

It would be bad if this ended up being Square Enix minimizing risk and abdicating responsibility or vision while attempting to keep the full financial upside associated with publishing.
 
You know, a company-designed Kickstarter that not only allowed, but recommended and supported fan based games is the most brilliant fucking thing ever.

I doubt SE can pull it off, but someone else could and make a huge huge fucking deal.
Stumpokapow said:
The fact that this begins with a concession that traditional publishers do not provide value to independent developers and that a different process is needed in order for publishers to provide value is good and true. Square Enix has published a bunch of DD games, many of them seem like they'd be no worse off and possibly better off if they had full ownership of their stuff and operated independently. So in that sense this is smart.

However, the service to me seems like a misfire. It seems like the more useful way that Square Enix could add value without acting like a gatekeeper or reinventing the wheel would be to just approach projects that are on IGG or KS and offer to help with distribution or publishing after the fact. Kickstarter even allows curated collections of projects by entities--I am sure they would allow Square Enix to curate a collection.

The actual community-based feedback mechanism seems useless and generally poor. The community has an important role to play in beta testing, tuning balance, and offering post-release suggestions but it strikes me that pre-release feedback will have a tendency to inflate scope and distort the core essence of the project.

It would be bad if this ended up being Square Enix minimizing risk and abdicating responsibility or vision while attempting to keep the full financial upside associated with publishing.
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Exactly.

If someone else was supporting this, a larger more reliable entity, this could be ground breaking. Imagine making, even charging, for fan games or remakes of older, dead IPs and everyone being happy, from the company up to the consumer.
 
Stumpokapow said:
It would be bad if this ended up being Square Enix minimizing risk and abdicating responsibility or vision while attempting to keep the full financial upside associated with publishing.
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The dissenting voice in me says that this is exactly what it is.
 
Prediction : First game posted will be a Final Fantasy VII remake.

Budget will be $7,777,777.

They will get $10 mil and still not make it.
 
Kiriku said:
So you can pitch ideas for older Eidos IPs, but you can also pitch ideas for entirely new IPs?
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That's actually what I'm getting from the discription.

This sounds more like a video game version of "the voice" where people show off the merrits of their new project and Square decides whether or not they want to bring them on, then once they have enough candidates, they open up kickstarters or indiegogos for the most promising ones and the ones that are the most popular.

Which is dangerous.
 
SE is sitting on some awesome IPs that they are messing up.

Here's just some ideas:
- Chrono Trigger sequel. Seriously. There's already like 3 fan-made one's that Square's shutdown. Use those as a starting point.
- Stop making sequels to FF's that nobody likes. Move on from FFXIII. Just do it.
- Stop remaking FFIV
- Hire people that haven't been at the FF series for years to make games in the FF series. (Yoshi-P has been great for ARR)
- Make more portable RPGs. These cost less to make, and you have a better track record with them.
- Rename Bravely Default to Final Fantasy: Bravely Default. Because we need a actual good final fantasy game to be reminded that the series is not lost.
- Stop being in love with Nomura and Kitase. Utilize Hiroyuki Ito and some of that other talent you have sat on for so long.
- Make another portable Tactics.
- Continue doing Dragon Quest the same way. This is clearly still working.
- Let Eidos do it's own thing. Maybe learn to budget it's titles a little better.
 
My pitch : Chrono Rip

Set directly after the ending of Chrono Trigger, and the gang finds out they ripped the universe a new one! So they go on a grand quest to seal the universe's newly ripped open Time Hole all through the gameplay of a match - 3 Bejeweled clone.
 
Stumpokapow said:
It would be bad if this ended up being Square Enix minimizing risk and abdicating responsibility or vision while attempting to keep the full financial upside associated with publishing.
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I wonder if the terms and conditions make it possible for S-E to own the IPs they're helping out with (assuming you can pitch ideas not related to IPs S-E already own)? Would be a way for them to gauge interest in IPs before they're kickstarted, and already have control over them once they've become popular.
 
Pitching a twilight style soul reaver which will assuredly get a million approvals.

Special edition comes with Raziel and Kain humping pillows
 
Nirolak said:
Yes, for now it seems to be (presumably inactive) old Eidos IPs.
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What a pity!

Maybe they will add old Enix and Square IPs later.
Think of all the possibilities:
  • New Seiken Densetsu
  • Vagrant Story sequel/remake
  • Terranigma sequel/remake (Quintet was developer, Enix owns IP?)
  • ...
 
Some have speculated that Steam Greenlight will eventually become something like this. I even have my doubts that Valve will get it right. SE doing this is just comical.
 
I kinda get the point for everything but one thing................

Why use indiegogo?

Seriously, is not like squenix lacks the resources to make a crowdfunding platform.
 
I remember the good old days when Kickstarter/IndieGoGo was for small, independent developers.

In 5 years every game made will use this method of funding. I wonder what the kickstarter pledges for GTAVI are gonna be.
 
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