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[Benjamin385]

Hey,

I am curious is there anywhere that I can go to raise funds for games development.
I know that there is kick starter and various other crowd funding sites.

But we lack a prototype and in order to complete the prototype/game we would need around 50 to 60k USD to completely finish the entire game at a very high quality while retaining our Independence.

I am just curious if there is anywhere that I have missed.

Here are the places that I have looked into -

Kickstarter - useless without a prototype.
Indiefund - Useless without a prototype.

[RudyTheDev]

First of all, there are hundreds of crowd-funding sites, here's one example list. Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, even IndieFund are just the more popular examples.

Now, I doubt anyone on the Internet -- i.e. crowd-funding -- will actually give you any money without a prototype or amazing concept art (unless you are a big name or have a fanbase). And even that is no guarantee.

Any serious game publisher would expect a complete GDD and a business plan before they even consider funding. And they would certainly be placing restrictions and taking a cut.

Otherwise you are talking a loan, but even venture funds and high-interest banks would expect at least a business plan.

[rivon]

Just make a prototype in your spare time. It's not that hard if you really put some time into it.

[SterlingDee]

First of all, there are hundreds of crowd-funding sites, here's one example list. Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, even IndieFund are just the more popular examples.

Otherwise you are talking a loan, but even venture funds and high-interest banks would expect at least a business plan.

I can't imagine a bank giving out a loan unless OP has previous experience or can back it up with collateral. The current lending environment is not a good one. I think most developed countries have government backed loans for small businesses but I believe they prefer brick and mortar businesses.

[Benjamin385]

Alright I guess I should have prefaced this.

I am working on the business side of a game. I am currently working with about 10 or so people on a freelance/Contractor basis.

Basically we need money in order to start and finish the game we are currently making. Around 50k will be needed to get the game into a finished state and become self sufficient.

We are barely making ends meet. So some of the money will go to surviving for just a year or two while we get the game ready and out the door.

[SterlingDee]

good luck convincing someone you want an investment to pay salaries to yourselves! Do you have have any experienced members on this team? What type of game is it?

[Benjamin385]

good luck convincing someone you want an investment to pay salaries to yourselves! Do you have have any experienced members on this team? What type of game is it?

Yes, We have experienced team members. Technically all members are very experienced in their respective field. To put it in perspective - I am working with the developers behind X Shift Online. We have some renders up there on facebook. If you do not want to go to facebook go here

EDIT: BAH - Forgot to finish the post.

[FamousAspect]

I think you'll have difficulty with any funding effort where players/investors cannot try out the game. My suggestions is that the studio needs to take on some sort of contract job that builds a buffer of funds that gives you the freedom to build a prototype. I only have experience finding solo contracting projects, so I'm not sure how exactly you can go about finding this sort of job. It also highly depends on the talents/makeup of your studio, as well as its existing network of game developers and publishers.

One thing that is sometimes overlooked is that game developers have skills (especially programming) that are often higher paid in other industries. This is a long shot, but is it possible for your team to take on non-gaming projects in the short term to grow the funds that will allow you to build your game in the long term?

[mychii]

You really need a prototype, seriously. I can't even win people without something I have done, unless that investor is generous and your best friend. If you're a business person, I think you should already know that.

You can't make something big if you don't have the capital, and of course, you can't raise money if you don't have something to convince them. It's almost the same thing.
Just a suggestion, you can start with something smaller first to reach that budget you need, then create the prototype, then you ask for money. It's more realistic that way.

[khanstruct]

Hey everyone! This is Phil "khanstruct". I'm the owner of Pillar 4 Entertainment, and the lead designer for the X-Shift Online project.

While I absolutely appreciate my friend Benjamin's enthusiasm for the project, I'm afraid he got a little over-zealous. (It's happened to all of us who get to talking about X-Shift.) While we were discussing the possibilities of X-Shift, and the funding that would be needed to get it moving forward, we are not currently in any state of production with it.

We once had an investor, which got the original pre-production in motion. However, we have since had to move forward on our own, and have been grinding away at smaller projects and contract work to retrieve some traction.

X-Shift is absolutely still in our line up, but we do understand the requirements for such a massive undertaking.

Again, I want to thank Benjamin for his excitement and everyone else for the advice they've been offering. You can most definitely "Like" our Facebook page, and I won't stop you from spreading the word about X-Shift, but until we're a bit more stable, it remains on hold.