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FGG
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« on: November 13, 2017, 11:54:06 AM »

Hi there. If this isn't the right subforum to post this, move it please.

I recently created a Kickstarter for a wrestling game in August. I had started marketing it in January when it was revealed, and had huge interest from a number of parties that grew my twitter by 300+ followers, with a lot of big names such as content creators and even a famous wrestler. When me and my team put together enough marketing and asset material, we launched it.

Kickstarter Link

We kept communicating with our backers who reached a total of nearly 500 and informed numerous channels and people of our game. And yet, in the end, we failed to reach our goal. Some said that the kickstarter goal was too high. Others said that it was the artstyle. Some said it's because we didn't have the right amount of followers. And some said that maybe the project's presentation wasn't good or clear.

So I will like to ask other professionals in the industry if they will like to critique what we offered. Education of my failures is always welcomed. We are currently producing a playable demo to release to the public and hopefully get more people aware and trusting in our product to try a second time with crowdfunding in a couple of months. What do you guys think we as a team should do now? Should we continue on this path? Or should we sit down and scale back our expectations and project for an easier attainable scope that the public would trust? 10K is a lot easier to raise than 60K.

I look forward to your replies.  Beer!
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zizulot
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« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2017, 05:17:34 AM »

60k I think its little bit too much , hell even 10k is perfectly enough to make a good game, When I watched your trailer I remember one simmilar game which was on Java mobiles long ago , it was some kind of TNA Game google it, they used ring in that one and moves was charging up for a time, it was RPG Wrestling game, I loved it, Maybe to make it more (a Wrestling game) , you could add ring instead of parking lot,
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LobsterSundew
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« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2017, 01:14:11 AM »

Here are notes and data collected from back when the Kickstarter campaign ran.
https://i.imgur.com/QgZOFJY.png

I crunch a lot of data about Kickstarter. The average pledge per backer amount extremely stands out to me as way too low in this situation. I want to put extra emphasis on it being lower than it should be. That indicates a problem with the lower tiers getting backers to upgrade to higher tiers.

It has a $10 early-bird and $15 normal tier, meaning an expectation of $22 to $35 per backer for a healthy campaign based on past campaigns. Suplex Saga was closer to $19 to $20 per backer. A lower average pledge amount means requiring more backers to reach 100% funded. With a large minimum funding goal, a less efficient campaign is a big problem.

While the $10 early-bird tier was open, it was effectively a price jump from $10 to $35 because most reasonably will ignore the $15 normal tier. That is a relatively massive price jump. In the lowest-priced tiers, backers can be more sensitive to small price increases. In general, doubling the price (or more) with a jump to the next tier often creates problems.

The $15 tier was for a copy of the game and being put in the credits. the $35 tier added a digital wallpaper for a $20 price increase. It can be easy to argue that is not enough value for the $20 increase. This would hold more backers back from upgrading and require more backers to reach 100% funded.

The next tier after the $35 tier was $45 that added a copy of the soundtrack. I frequently see soundtrack tiers can often fall flat if priced above $30. Soundtrack tiers often do poorly in general with some campaigns (with particularly strong music) being exceptions. Many people will just listen to the soundtrack on YouTube if it ends up being good.

What is puzzling is the $100 tier for alternate in-game colours for party members is the type of reward tier usually in the lower end of the tiers. This is after physical rewards were introduced at the $70 tier.

I found no mention of alpha or beta access in the rewards. It is very clear early access to a game is something many backers will pledge extra for.

A $15 priced game on Kickstarter could realistically see $45 per backer in some optimistic scenarios. 483 backers at $45 per backer would have been $21,735 (36.23% of the goal). Even at a more standard $30 per backer it would have been $14,490 (24.15%). More effective reward tiers could have helped it cover much more distance with the same number of backers.

Most backers are expected to pick the cheapest available reward tier for a copy of the game. I often observe 40% to 80% picking that tier. Closer to 40% often indicates a simple lack of backers. Closer to 80% indicates a problem with the reward tiers. The sweetspot is 50% to 60% of backers picking the cheapest available tier for a copy of the game. Suplex Saga had 83.22% of backers picked the $10 tier. That is another sign the reward tiers were not working well.

The timing of both the launch and the end of the campaign faced severe challenges.

Suplex Saga launched when way less people would be around to see it, but actually did relatively well in its first 72 hours probably thanks to the pre-launch promotion efforts. It could have done much worse launching into a weekend. Friday is the 2nd worst day in the weekly cycle to launch. Saturday is the worst performing day in the cycle. Sunday is the 3rd worst. Launching into a weekend also often messes with getting press coverage.

The second half of the campaign ran through Gamescom 2017, then into PAX West and then into an early part of September nicknamed "the meatgrinder" for destroying campaigns. That August 22nd to September 8th is one of the most difficult periods to run a video game Kickstarter campaign out of the entire year. Getting press becomes way harder and competition for visibility within Kickstarter also gets extreme. Suplex Saga never stalled out even during this tough time. That was good.

It also ended early on a Sunday morning. Ending a weekend really harms the final surge. The large goal would have also likely contributed to morale falling apart in the middle of the campaign.

Reaching almost 500 backers was a good achievement. Many failed campaigns don't make it over 100 backers. Suplex Saga also reached 16.55%. That 16.55% was also not hollow. It looks like real solid progress, not a spamming of multiple large pledges. 15% of the funding goal in the first 48 hours is often how much traction a large campaign needs. Even with the same $60,000 goal, returning backers could provide it the traction a second attempt would need. A reboot at a good time of year would likely succeed with some iterating on the previous project page. The annual cycle to Kickstarter sees the platform recover (from its slowdown in November and December) after January 6th to 10th each year. By the start of February it can be almost back to normal.
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FGG
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« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2017, 01:16:11 AM »


That is some very informative information. Thank you. Huh, the timing thing is a real educator. I also felt something off about my campaign going into the weekend and ending there, too, naturally cause press wouldn't be around. I was counting on the followers we gained from the early year announcement to make it have a strong start.
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Refeuh
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« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2017, 01:44:39 AM »

If you're looking for a detailed professional analysis and report, you could try contacting these guys :

http://icopartners.com/crowdfunding-review/

They have a real expertise and solid experience on crowdfunding for video games !
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Game Producer & Agile Consultant - http://raphaelgervaise.com
FGG
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« Reply #5 on: November 23, 2017, 10:05:34 AM »

If you're looking for a detailed professional analysis and report, you could try contacting these guys :

http://icopartners.com/crowdfunding-review/

They have a real expertise and solid experience on crowdfunding for video games !
Thank you. I'll send them an email.
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