Broken Age
Broken Age is an episodic point-and-click adventure video game, Tim Schafer’s first return to the genre since 1998’s Grim Fandango.
Broken Age began under the working title Double Fine Adventure as a Kickstarter crowdfunded project promoted by Double Fine and 2 Player Productions in February 2012. Originally a goal of $400,000 was set to cover the costs of development and documentary filming, it became the largest crowdfunded video game project at the time, raising over $3.45 million from more than 87,000 backers within the month. It remains one of the highest-backed crowdfunded projects of any type, and its success helped to establish Kickstarter and other crowdfunding mechanisms as a viable alternative to traditional venture capital and publisher funding for niche video game titles.
Campaign success
Broken age is an adventure game similar to ones that were produced in the late 1980 and early 1990. Because of the technological advances such games became outdated to newer (junger) population of gamers. As such it was presented on Kickstarter as a product that could not exist without a public support of old school entusiasts. Person that stood with his reputation is Tim Schafer, one of the main figures in the golden age of adventure games genre. But still, he promised that the game will not be “museum” or “nostalgia” work, but instead “It’s going to be fresh and feel modern and feel like what the next game would have been if I’d made one straight after Grim Fandango”.
Primary goal for Tim Schafer’s Double fine was $ 400,000, with $100,000 allocated to the film production and $300,000 for the game. Although this was the largest goal of any gaming project yet on Kickstarter, it was the lowest budget the company had worked with, and a small fraction of the budget of the company’s previous downloadable games, which cost around $2 million. Schafer admitted that a game made for this budget would be “hobbled,” and that the budget was chosen because it was the absolute minimum he thought he could make an adventure game for. The two had originally envisioned a total $200,000 budget, a typical cost for an iOS game, but Schafer had doubts about whether Double Fine could deliver a game for such a low cost.
Within 24 hours, it had surpassed $1 million. Kickstarter stated on the day after its start that the Double Fine effort is the most successful to date, having attracted more backers than any prior effort in the site’s history The Double Fine project passed the $2 million mark on February 20, 2012, twelve days after fund raising began. The Kickstarter closed on March 13 with more than $3.3 million from over 87,000 backers, and with another $110,000 promised by premium backers. Schafer stated that the total funding was nearly the same as the budget for their previous downloadable titles.
Awards for donors
- for the backers that given $15 - the finished game in all of its awesome glory DRM free on PC, Mac, and Linux, or via Steam for PC and Mac, exclusive access to the Beta on Steam, access to the video series, and access the private discussion community. - for the backers that given $30 - HD download of the documentary series with extras, Digital game soundtrack, Digital documentary soundtrack, and all previous reward tiers. - for the backers that given $60 - PDF version of the Double Fine Adventure Book (filled with 100+ full color pages of concept art, original photos, developer bios, excerpts from the game’s script, deep dark secrets, and more!), and all previous reward tiers! - for the backers that given $100 - special edition box containing both the game disc and a DVD or Blu-Ray of the documentary, Double Fine Adventure Backer T-shirt, original “Double Fine Adventure” poster (suitable for framing), special thanks in the game’s credits, and all previous reward tiers. - for the backers that given $250 - ”Double Fine Adventure” Poster autographed by Tim Schafer, Ron Gilbert, and the rest of the design team, and all previous reward tiers - for the backers that given $500 - hardcover Double Fine Adventure Book (filled with 100+ full color pages of concept art, original photos, developer bios, excerpts from the game’s script, deep dark secrets, and more!) signed by Tim Schafer himself, and all previous reward tiers with the exception of the signed poster. - for the backers that given $1000 - mini portrait of YOU, painted by the game’s artist, and all previous reward tiers. - for the backers that given $5000 - larger original painting of art used in the final game, and all previous reward tiers. - for the backers that given $10000 - lunch with Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert, a tour of the Double Fine offices, and all previous reward tiers.
Project success
Within nine hours, the Kickstarter project had exceeded the $400,000 goal. Within 24 hours, it had surpassed $1 million. Kickstarter stated on the day after its start that the Double Fine effort is the most successful to date, having attracted more backers than any prior effort in the site’s history while others have noted it is the second project – the Elevation Dock project being the first – to achieve more than $1 million in funding through Kickstarter. The Double Fine project passed the $2 million mark on February 20, 2012, twelve days after fund raising began. The Kickstarter closed on March 13 with more than $3.3 million from over 87,000 backers, and with another $110,000 promised by premium backers. Schafer stated that the total funding was nearly the same as the budget for their previous downloadable titles.
The success of the fundraising campaign established crowd-sourcing as a challenge to publisher funding (and control) for multi-million dollar projects. John Walker from Rock, Paper, Shotgun was quick to point out that this doesn’t pose a major threat to publishers on a large scale, but added that it would force publishers to ask themselves questions such as “Are we really in touch with our audience’s desires?”. Johnny Cullen of VG247 compared the Double Fine Kickstarter to the release of Radiohead’s album In Rainbows, which the band had sold through their website in a pay-what-you-want model prior to a physical printing, without the interference of a music publisher. Cullen noted the model of crowd-sourcing has previously not worked for some game developers, and does not expect it to be a guaranteed success for future efforts, as he believes Double Fine is a unique studio with a dedicated fan base, aspects that are not shared by all developers.
Initial commentary largely framed Double Fine as exceptional, citing Double Fine’s reputation, experience with the under-serviced genre, and history of difficulty with publisher funding as reasons why Double Fine’s case was unique. Initially, many remained skeptical that such a level of success could be replicated. Schafer further agreed that the success of the Double Fine Kickstarter would be somewhat difficult to replicate for other games, even for Double Fine, as it would require the project to be “a good story for people to get behind”.
Initial fears that this success would be isolated were allayed as new projects emerged. As the Double Fine Adventure campaign closed, Brian Fargo of inXile Entertainment launched a Kickstarter to fund development of the sequel Wasteland 2, which met its target of $900,000 in funding within two days,and eventually raised more than $2.9 million. Double Fine Adventure brought in 61,692 new users to Kickstarter, and greatly increased the platform’s visibility and viability for funding of games projects. Within the six weeks following the launch of the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter, the site raised more than $2.9 million in pledges (outside of the Double Fine project) for video game related projects, compared with $1.7 million total for the category in the prior two years, as well as increasing the amount of funding coming into projects of all categories. In October, Project Eternity surpassed Double Fine’s funding record, further suggesting the crowd-funding model will continue to be a part of the gaming landscape.
The success of Double Fine Adventure has had a particularly visible impact on the adventure genre, inspiring several other established adventure game developers to use Kickstarter as a means to return to the genre. In the months following its release, the creators of Broken Sword, Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry, Space Quest and Tex Murphy have all managed to raise amounts in excess of Schafer’s original goal of $400,000.
