{"id":8967,"date":"2017-12-19T19:49:27","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T19:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/?p=8967"},"modified":"2017-12-24T00:52:00","modified_gmt":"2017-12-24T00:52:00","slug":"kickstarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/blog\/2017\/12\/19\/kickstarter\/","title":{"rendered":"Kickstarter"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Pour une fois, ceci n\u2019est pas vraiment un article que j\u2019avais envie d\u2019\u00e9crire, mais plut\u00f4t un article que l\u2019on m\u2019a demand\u00e9. R\u00e9guli\u00e8rement, depuis un ou deux ans, je suis interrog\u00e9 sur \u00ab\u00a0ce que je pense\u00a0\u00bb du crowdfunding de jeux de soci\u00e9t\u00e9 sur kickstarter. Et, r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement, j\u2019ai bien du mal \u00e0 r\u00e9pondre parce que j\u2019en pense des choses assez diff\u00e9rentes, selon le point de vue o\u00f9 je me place, celui de l\u2019auteur ou du joueur, et selon le type d\u2019utilisation du crowdfunding dont on parle, car ils sont multiples.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/a><\/em>\"\"
\n<\/a>Tous les graphiques viennent du site icopartners.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Les statistiques par secteur d\u2019activit\u00e9 fournies par Kickstarter sont impressionnantes. L\u2019ensemble \u00ab\u00a0jeux\u00a0\u00bb est l’un des trois plus importants, avec \u00ab\u00a0design\u00a0\u00bb et \u00ab\u00a0technology\u00a0\u00bb, et pr\u00e9sente un taux de succ\u00e8s sup\u00e9rieur. Il repr\u00e9sente, avec environ sept cent millions de dollars de pledges sur 35.000 projets, un cinqui\u00e8me de l\u2019activit\u00e9 de kickstarter depuis sa cr\u00e9ation en 2009. Les autres plateformes de crowdfunding, Ulule, Indiegogo ou Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, p\u00e8sent beaucoup moins lourd et je n’en parlerai gu\u00e8re.<\/p>\n

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Un int\u00e9ressant article<\/a> de Thomas Bidaux montre que les jeux de soci\u00e9t\u00e9 p\u00e8sent aujourd\u2019hui bien plus que les jeux videos dans cet ensemble, et continuent \u00e0 se d\u00e9velopper, que ce soit en nombre de projets ou en chiffre d\u2019affaires, quand les jeux videos sont clairement en recul. Je pense que les chiffres de 2017 confirmeront, voire amplifieront cette tendance. L\u2019auteur de l\u2019article s\u2019y livre \u00e0 une estimation au doigt mouill\u00e9 de la part de kickstarter dans le CA du secteur du jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9 aux \u00c9tats-Unis, et l\u2019estime \u00e0 3%, un peu moins que ce que j\u2019aurais imagin\u00e9, mais d\u00e9j\u00e0 beaucoup.<\/p>\n

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En tant qu\u2019auteur, kickstarter ne repr\u00e9sente pas grand chose dans mes jeux \u00e9dit\u00e9s – Formula E et Argo, qui ne sont pas mes plus grands succ\u00e8s en termes de vente, mais qui ont \u00e9t\u00e9 modestement financ\u00e9s. Avec le recul, j\u2019ai de ces deux exp\u00e9riences des souvenirs assez mitig\u00e9s. J\u2019ai toujours essay\u00e9 de mettre en avant mes jeux sur internet, en particulier sur mon site web et un peu sur Facebook, mais j\u2019appr\u00e9cie de le faire avec nuance et sans pression. Quand une campagne kickstarter est en cours, c\u2019est un peu l\u2019urgence permanente, comme s\u2019il fallait sans cesse faire la promotion \u00e0 la fois du jeu et de la campagne, un travail qui me semble plus celui de l\u2019\u00e9diteur et que, au fond, je n\u2019appr\u00e9cie pas vraiment. Bref, comme auteur, je suis bien plus \u00e0 l\u2019aise, plus naturel, pour pr\u00e9senter mes jeux lorsqu\u2019ils sortent dans le circuit commercial traditionnel, et j\u2019ai l\u2019impression avec kickstarter de devoir faire un travail suppl\u00e9mentaire, assez d\u00e9sagr\u00e9able et pour lequel je ne suis pas vraiment pay\u00e9. Alors, oui, j\u2019en fais sans doute finalement autant pour mes autres jeux, mais plus tranquillement, plus naturellement, sans pression.
\nInterrog\u00e9 sur les raisons pour lesquelles l\u2019\u00e9diteur d\u2019un jeu gagnait g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement plus d\u2019argent que le petit auteur que je suis, l\u2019une des justifications que je donne habituellement est que c\u2019est l\u2019\u00e9diteur qui fait le gros du boulot et qui prend les risques financiers. Avec le crowdfunding, il prend bien moins de risques et on a plus de boulot, et je me demande du coup, avec Bruno Cathala, si nous ne devrions pas demander plus de droits d\u2019auteur lorsqu\u2019un jeu est publi\u00e9 de cette mani\u00e8re.<\/p>\n

Apr\u00e8s la campagne, tout s’arr\u00eate, car kickstarter encourage aussi une autre tendance d\u00e9j\u00e0 active dans le monde ludique ces derni\u00e8res ann\u00e9es, et qui ne me plait ni comme auteur ni comme joueur, celle aux jeux qui ne font que passer, que l’on vend, dont on parle et auxquels on joue quelques mois avant qu’ils ne disparaissent.<\/p>\n

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En tant que joueur, Kickstarter me dit que j\u2019ai pledg\u00e9 \u00e0 ce jour 270 jeux qui ont \u00e9t\u00e9 financ\u00e9s – le premier, en 2010, \u00e9tait Alien Frontiers, le dernier Museum – et 30 qui ne l\u2019ont pas \u00e9t\u00e9. Je pledge essentiellement des petits jeux, souvent des jeux de cartes, qui m\u2019ont l\u2019air amusant ou innovants, m\u00eame s\u2019il m\u2019est arriv\u00e9 aussi de participer \u00e0 de plus grosses campagnes comme Cthulhu Wars, Conan ou Rising Sun. Je re\u00e7ois tr\u00e8s r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement de petits colis avec des jeux dont j\u2019avais la plupart du temps compl\u00e8tement oubli\u00e9 que je les avais command\u00e9s – j\u2019emploie ce verbe \u00e0 dessein, j\u2019y reviendrai. Si la qualit\u00e9 moyenne des jeux que j\u2019ai achet\u00e9s sur Kickstarter est sans doute un peu inf\u00e9rieure \u00e0 celle des jeux achet\u00e9s en boutique, c\u2019est une moyenne derri\u00e8re laquelle se cachent quelques perles, dont mon tout premier kickstarter, Alien Frontiers, que je n\u2019aurais sans doute jamais d\u00e9couvertes autrement. Je constate cependant que je me suis parfois senti un peu \u00ab\u00a0oblig\u00e9\u00a0\u00bb de soutenir les projets d\u2019auteurs ou \u00e9diteurs amis, alors que je ne me serai jamais senti oblig\u00e9 d\u2019acheter leurs jeux parus dans le circuit traditionnel – je me serais m\u00eame parfois attendu \u00e0 ce qu\u2019on me les offre. Il y a l\u00e0 un m\u00e9canisme psychologique un peu pervers qui, je pense, contribue au succ\u00e8s du crowdfunding. Quoi qu\u2019il en soit, sans \u00eatre enthousiasmante, mon exp\u00e9rience de joueur est bien plus positive que mon exp\u00e9rience d\u2019auteur, ce qui explique que je continue.<\/p>\n

S\u2019il m\u2019est difficile de porter un jugement global sur l\u2019impact, indiscutablement \u00e9norme et probablement durable, du crowdfunding sur le monde du jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9, c\u2019est parce que les usages qui sont faits de kickstarter par les \u00e9diteurs de jeux peuvent \u00eatre assez diff\u00e9rents. En simplifiant un peu, on peut dire qu\u2019il y a dans le monde du jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9 trois types de campagne skickstarter.<\/p>\n

Crowdfunding est officiellement traduit en fran\u00e7ais par \u00ab\u00a0financement participatif\u00a0\u00bb. On pourrait difficilement imaginer une plus mauvaise traduction, et c\u2019est la raison pour laquelle je ne l\u2019utilise pas. Le vrai financement participatif, c\u2019est l\u2019actionnariat, o\u00f9 l\u2019investisseur participe au capital et parfois aux d\u00e9cisions. En comparaison, le pledgeur d\u2019une campagne de crowdfunding ne participe le plus souvent pas \u00e0 grand chose, m\u00eame si l\u2019illusion du contraire peut-\u00eatre une des raisons du succ\u00e8s de ce mode financement. Le crowdfunding, du moins tel qu\u2019il est pratiqu\u00e9 dans le jeu, n\u2019est qu\u2019une version modernis\u00e9e, gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 internet, de la pr\u00e9commande ou de la vente par souscription.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/a>Je n’aime pas d\u00e9noncer nomm\u00e9ment les mauvais jeux. Toutes les illustrations de cet article indiquent des jeux que j’ai pledg\u00e9s et appr\u00e9ci\u00e9s.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Les seuls jeux pour lesquels on puisse \u00e0 la rigueur utiliser cette expression sont ceux publi\u00e9s par des auteurs\/\u00e9diteurs modestes et ind\u00e9pendants, de nouveaux arrivants qui n\u2019ont pas leurs entr\u00e9es dans le circuit des \u00e9diteurs et des boutiques classiques. Il y a vingt ou trente ans, la plupart de leurs jeux n\u2019auraient jamais \u00e9t\u00e9 publi\u00e9s, et les quelques uns qui l\u2019auraient \u00e9t\u00e9 parce que l\u2019auteur y croyait vraiment et avait un peu d\u2019argent auraient sans doute fini dans son garage faute d\u2019un r\u00e9seau de distribution ad\u00e9quat. Une large majorit\u00e9 des projets que je soutiens sur kickstarter sont de ce type. \u00c0 l\u2019arriv\u00e9e, beaucoup sont m\u00e9diocres, mais il y dans le lot quelques perles. En feuilletant ma liste de projets sur le site de Kickstarter, je tombe sur The Agents, Argent the Consortium, Romans Go Home, et j\u2019en trouverais d\u2019autres si je laissais encore d\u00e9filer\u2026 J\u2019ai ador\u00e9 Romans Go Home, et ai un peu contribu\u00e9 \u00e0 ce qu\u2019il soit ensuite repris par un \u00e9diteur classique, malheureusement sans grand succ\u00e8s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Les sites de crowdfunding aiment \u00e0 se pr\u00e9senter comme \u00e9tant avant tout des incubateurs financiers pour des projets con\u00e7us par des passionn\u00e9s. C\u2019\u00e9tait largement vrai dans les premiers temps des plateformes de \u00ab financement participatif \u00bb, mais c\u2019est de moins en moins le cas. Il y a en effet aujourd\u2019hui d\u2019autres usages de Kickstarter et de ses cousins, qui me semblent plus probl\u00e9matiques.<\/p>\n

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En terme de chiffres d\u2019affaires, le march\u00e9 du jeu est florissant. Comme souvent, cela attire du monde, et la concurrence s\u2019attise. Moins nombreux que les \u00e9diteurs, les distributeurs (dont certains sont aussi \u00e9diteurs) se retrouvent souvent en position en force pour n\u00e9gocier. Du coup, les \u00e9diteurs cherchent divers moyens d\u2019augmenter des marges qui ont tendance naturellement \u00e0 se r\u00e9duire.
\nLes \u00e9diteurs de jeux ont toujours aim\u00e9 vendre directement sur les salons. Les ventes n\u2019y sont certes pas \u00e9normes, mais l\u2019\u00e9diteur se r\u00e9serve la marge du distributeur et celle de la boutique – et en plus, il se fait engueuler s\u2019il vend moins cher. Kickstarter permet de faire la m\u00eame chose \u00e0 une plus grand \u00e9chelle encore, contournant all\u00e8grement le r\u00e9seau de distribution classique. Pour les petits et moyens \u00e9diteurs, cela permet aussi de se faire une id\u00e9e des ventes potentielles, et donc du tirage n\u00e9cessaire, et d\u2019\u00e9viter des probl\u00e8mes de tr\u00e9sorerie. Bref, c\u2019est tout b\u00e9n\u00e9fice, mais un b\u00e9n\u00e9fice qui se fait au d\u00e9triment d\u2019acteurs qui ont beaucoup contribu\u00e9 au d\u00e9veloppement du jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9, et lui sont sans doute encore n\u00e9cessaires, les boutiques. Un peu comme l\u2019ont fait les librairies face \u00e0 Amazon et aux liseuses, les boutiques r\u00e9agissent. Les sorties abondantes leur permettent de ne plus mettre en avant les jeux qui ont \u00e9t\u00e9 massivement pr\u00e9vendus par kickstarter, certaines deviennent des caf\u00e9s jeux, organisent des soir\u00e9es de d\u00e9monstratiin, des s\u00e9ances de d\u00e9dicaces, mais je ne suis pas certain que cela suffise.<\/p>\n

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Reste un troisi\u00e8me type, celui qui est le plus discut\u00e9 aujourd\u2019hui, les jeux con\u00e7us sp\u00e9cifiquement pour kickstarter, aux prix g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement tr\u00e8s \u00e9lev\u00e9 et aux campagnes de financement sophistiqu\u00e9es, qui parviennent \u00e0 lever des sommes consid\u00e9rables, des centaines de milliers voire des millions de dollars, les Conan, Blood Rage, Scythe, Glomhaven, 7\u00e8me Continent, Kingdom Death Monster et consorts. Ces gros projets sont les plus discut\u00e9s dans le microcosme ludique, en grande partie parce que leurs auteurs et \u00e9diteurs sont eux-m\u00eames des membres actifs de ce microcosme, et ne manquent pas une occasion de cr\u00e9er le buzz autour de leurs cr\u00e9ations.<\/p>\n

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Les campagnes ayant lev\u00e9 plus de 500.000 dollars repr\u00e9sentent un peu moins de la moiti\u00e9 du chiffre d\u2019affaires du jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9 sur Kickstarter. C\u2019est beaucoup, peut-\u00eatre trop, mais le jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9 sur Kickstarter ne peut pas \u00eatre r\u00e9duit \u00e0 cela. Il s\u2019agit le plus souvent de tr\u00e8s gros jeux, au mat\u00e9riel luxueux et parfois surdimensionn\u00e9, avec des milliers de cartes ou des tonnes de figurines, et destin\u00e9s \u00e0 un public de passionn\u00e9s, mais finissent parfois dans leurs biblioth\u00e8ques sans avoir \u00e9t\u00e9 vraiment jou\u00e9s. Certains de ces jeux se retrouvent ensuite en boutique, d\u2019autres, de plus en plus nombreux, ne sont disponibles que sur Kickstarter, quitte \u00e0 ce qu\u2019il y ait, comme pour le 7\u00e8me Continent, une deuxi\u00e8me campagne. Cela devient m\u00eame un argument commercial – si vous ne pledgez pas vous serez d\u00e9finitivement pass\u00e9 \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9. Bien d\u2019autres choses me g\u00eanent aussi dans ces campagnes de financement soigneusement orchestr\u00e9es, l\u2019abus de stretch goals artificiels, les updates incessants visant \u00e0 donner aux acheteurs l\u2019illusion de participer \u00e0 une sorte d\u2019aventure, l\u2019insistance sur le mat\u00e9riel et non sur le jeu, le mauvais go\u00fbt tapageur de certaines illustrations\u2026 J\u2019ai achet\u00e9 quelques uns de ces jeux – car l\u00e0 aussi, il s\u2019agit clairement d\u2019achat et non de soutien – et, si je consid\u00e8re avoir largement rentabilis\u00e9 les excellents Scythe et Blood Rage, les autres ne sont finalement pas ou peu sortis de leur boite.
\nJ\u2019ai sur ce dernier usage de kickstarter un point de vue mitig\u00e9. Les prix g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement tr\u00e8s \u00e9lev\u00e9s, souvent une centaine de dollars, sont certes justifi\u00e9s par des \u00e9ditions splendides ou tape \u00e0 l\u2019\u0153il, mais je ne suis pas certain que le jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9 ait besoin d\u2019un cr\u00e9neau \u00ab\u00a0de luxe\u00a0\u00bb, qui gr\u00e8ve fortement le budget des joueurs. \u00c0 trop se focaliser sur les \u00e9normes miniatures, les splendides illustrations, les impressions tout en dorures, le jeu lui-m\u00eame semble presque passer au second plan – une d\u00e9rive qu\u2019a connu le jeu video et dont il a du mal \u00e0 se d\u00e9p\u00e9trer. Les \u00e9diteurs passent consacrent plus de temps et d’\u00e9nergie aux d\u00e9tails de la campagne qu’au d\u00e9veloppement du jeu, et on en arrive maintenant m\u00eame \u00e0 voir des publicit\u00e9s pour des campagnes kickstarter avant m\u00eame qu’elles aient commenc\u00e9. La \u00ab\u00a0professionalisation\u00a0\u00bb de kickstarter permet \u00e0 certains de se faire plaisir en sortant des \u00e9ditions magnifiques, \u00e0 d\u2019autres ou aux m\u00eames de gagner de petites fortunes, mais je ne suis pas convaincu qu\u2019elle apporte \u00e0 la cr\u00e9ation ludique autre chose qu’une immense perte de temps et des tonnes de figurines dont nous aurions fort bien pu nous passer.<\/p>\n

Bien s\u00fbr, cette cat\u00e9gorisation est un peu caricaturale, et beaucoup ont une d\u00e9marche qui se rattache un peu \u00e0 deux de ces sch\u00e9mas, voire aux trois. Son principal int\u00e9r\u00eat est de montrer les limites des discours, assez fr\u00e9quents, qui ne voient qu\u2019un seul de ces aspects.<\/p>\n

Alors m\u00eame que les autres plateformes de crowdfunding ne comptent plus gu\u00e8re, le chiffre d\u2019affaires global g\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9 par Kickstater a baiss\u00e9 en 2016. Je ne serais pas surpris qu\u2019il en aille de m\u00eame en 2017. Le jeu de soci\u00e9t\u00e9, dont le nombre de projets et le volume des ventes continue de progresser, fait exception. Il est le secteur le plus profond\u00e9ment affect\u00e9 par un mode de financement et de distribution qui n\u2019avait pas du tout \u00e9t\u00e9 imagin\u00e9 pour lui.
\nJe suis d\u2019une g\u00e9n\u00e9ration d\u2019auteurs qui a vu exploser la cr\u00e9ation, l\u2019\u00e9dition et la distribution de jeux ces trente derni\u00e8res ann\u00e9es. Cet \u00e9cosyst\u00e8me m\u2019a permis de me maintenir dans le r\u00f4le, confortable et peut-\u00eatre un peu paresseux, de l\u2019auteur solitaire. J\u2019ai toujours laiss\u00e9 aux \u00e9diteurs non seulement les risques financiers, mais aussi les calculs, les responsabilit\u00e9s, les d\u00e9cisions, les contraintes de toutes sortes, le vrai boulot. Je fais certes la tourn\u00e9e des salons et la promotion de mes jeux, mais je le fais comme cela m\u2019amuse et quand cela m\u2019amuse. Dans le nouveau mod\u00e8le qui se dessine, sur kickstarter et parfois ailleurs, les r\u00f4les ne sont plus aussi clairement distincts. Certains, comme Fred Henry ou Jamey Stegmaier, y sont tr\u00e8s \u00e0 l\u2019aise, mais je ne m\u2019y sens pas vraiment \u00e0 ma place. C\u2019est sans doute cela, autant que les critiques de fond, qui explique mes petites r\u00e9ticences face au crowdfunding. Preuve que \u00e7a me travaille, j’ai m\u00eame un prototype sur le th\u00e8me de kickstarter.
\n<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

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For once, this blogpost is not really something I wanted to write, but rather something I\u2019ve been asked for. These last two years, I\u2019ve been regularly asked for my opinion about crowdfunding, and specifically about the many games published through kickstarter. The reason why I didn\u2019t write this earlier is that I don\u2019t have a very clear and fixed opinion. It depends on the point of view I chose, that of the gamer or of the game designer, and on the use of kickstarter I am dealing with, because there are several.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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\n<\/a>All charts come from the icopartners website.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

According to kickstarter\u2019s own statistics, the category \u00ab\u00a0games\u00a0\u00bb comes among the three big first in number of projects and in money raised, with \u00ab\u00a0design\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0technology\u00a0\u00bb, and has a better success rate. There has been 700 million dollars raised for 35.000 game projects on kickstarter since the site started in 2009, one fifth of kickstarter activities. The other crowdfunding platforms, such as Ulule (in France), Indiegogo or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, weigh much less and I will largely ignore them. <\/em><\/p>\n

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An interesting article<\/a> by Thomas Bidaux shows that boardgames weigh more than video games in this total, and that they are still growing both in number and in money raised, when video games are clearly declining. The numbers for 2017 will very probably confirm these trends. The author of this article estimates the share of kickstarter in the boardgames business turnover in the US at 3%, a bit less than I would have guessed, but nevertheless a lot.<\/em><\/p>\n

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As a designer, I have very little experience with crowdfunding. Only two of my games, and not the best known ones, Formula E and Argo, were published via kickstarter. Both were barely funded, and in retrospect I didn\u2019t really enjoy the crowdfunding campaign experience. I\u2019ve always tried to promote my games, mostly on my website and occasionally on facebook, but I enjoy the fact that I can do it in a nuanced way, and without any feeling of urgency. When a kickstarter campaign is on track, pressure is permanent, as if it were always necessary to unceasingly promote both the game and the campaign, something which I think is more the job of the publisher, and which I don\u2019t really enjoy doing. As a game designer, I feel much more at ease when presenting may games published and sold through the traditional channels. With kickstarter, I have extra work to do, work which I dislike and for which I\u2019m not paid. In the end, I probably do as much, or even more, for my other games, but I can do it in a much more cool and casual way. <\/em>
\nWhen I\u2019m asked for the reason why a publisher makes more money out of my games than I do, I usually answer than the publisher works more hours than I do, and takes all the financial risks. With crowdfunding, we have more work and the publisher takes far less risk, so I agree with Bruno Cathala who suggests we ask for higher royalties when our games are published this way.<\/em><\/p>\n

After the funding campaign, everything is over. Kickstarter accelerates a trend which was already active these last years, and which I dislike both as a game designer and as a gamer, towards games that don’t stay long, games which are sold, played and talked about for a few months before they completely disappear and are soon forgotten.<\/em><\/p>\n

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As a gamer, Kickstarter tells me I have pledged 270 successfully funded games, and 30 which were not funded. The very first one was Alien Frontiers, the last one Museum.\u00a0 I pledge mostly small and sometimes unassuming stuff, often card games, though I also occasionally bought heavier stuff , like Cthulhu Wars, Conan or Rising Sun. Every other week, I receive one or two small parcels with games I have completely forgotten I had ordered – I deliberately use this word, I\u2019ll go back to it. The average quality of the games I bought on Kickstarter is probably slightly lower than that of those I bought from shops, but this mediocre average hides a few gems, like Alien Frontiers, my very first Kickstarter, which I would never had discovered otherwise. A strange feature of kickstarter campaigns is that I often feel \u00ab\u00a0morally bound\u00a0\u00bb to support games by publisher or designer friends, while I would never have felt bound to buy the same games in shops – sometimes, I would even had expected to get them as gifts. There is some perverse psychological mechanism at work here. Anyway, my experience of crowdfunding as a gamer might not be exhilarating, but it is clearly positive, which is was I keep on buying games on kickstarter, though at a slower rhythm now.<\/em><\/p>\n

Buying a game on kickstarter is supposed to be a “pledge”, not a payment and an order, and all the crowdfunding vocabulary has been chosen to make the buyer feel as if he were not buying stuff but supporting a project. This is largely misleading and, as far as boardgames are concerned, kickstarter is more like the modernised and internet version of preorders, or of sales by susbcription.<\/em><\/p>\n

The main reason why I have no clear opinion on the impact of crowdfunding on the board gaming world is that it might be used by game publishers and designers in very various ways. Basically, there are three different types of kickstarter campaigns.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\n<\/a>I don’t like to report on bad games. All the game covers accompanying this article come from games I have pledged and really enjoyed. Anyway, I forgot about most of the bad ones.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The first category is made of games self-published by independent boardgame designers, or small publishers, most of them newcomers with little way to enter the traditional network of publishers, distributors and shops. Twenty or thirty years ago, most of these games could not have been published. the few ones which could, because their designers had much hope and some money, would have ended in a suburb garage for lack of a distribution network. Most of the games I pledge are of this kind. A majority end up being mediocre, not really finalised, but there are occasional unexpected gems. While browsing my kickstarter pledge history, I find The Agents, Argent the Consortium, Romans Go Home, and I could probably find more with going down the list. I enjoyed Romans Go Home so much that I helped it finding a more traditional publisher, but it didn\u2019t sell very well.<\/em>
\nCrowdfunding websites use to present themselves as incubator for ventures designed by clever enthusiasts. It was originally mostly the case and, while this kind of projects still exist, there are now other uses of Kickstarter and its cousins, and these are more problematic.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Boardgames sales have never been that high. As always when a market thrives, new people come in and competition gets fiercer. The many new small publishers have a weak bargaining position when facing fewer distributors, who often are also publishers themselves. Therefore, publishers look for ways to increase narrowing margins. Skipping distributors is a good one.<\/em>
\nPublishers have always liked to sell games directly at game fairs. Numbers are relatively small, but the publisher takes both the shop and distributor margins – and even gets criticised when selling too cheap ! Kickstarter is a way to do the same thing on a much larger scale, bypassing the distribution network. For small and medium publishers, it\u2019s also a way to test the market and have a better idea of potential sales, and therefore to print the right amount of games, and without any cash problem. Of course, what the publisher wins is lost by the game shops, who were one of he main actors of the boardgames renaissance and are probably still necessary to it. Like bookshops and some other facing Amazon, gameshows try to adapt. Some refuse to promote the games which were sold on kickstarter before, other become game caf\u00e9s, organise game nights or designer signings, but I\u2019m not sure it will be enough.<\/em><\/p>\n

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There\u2019s a third kind of kickstarter campaigns, the one most discussed now, expensive games with sophisticated funding campaigns, which can often raise several hundred thousands dollars, if not millions. These are games like Conan, Blood Rage, Scythe, Gloomhaven, The 7th Continent or Kingdom Death Monster. the games are the most discussed in the small gaming world, in part because their designers and publishers are active parts of this small world, and never miss an opportunity to feed the buzz.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Campaigns raising more than 500.000 dollars make a bit less than half of the kick-starter boardgames turnover. It\u2019s much, may be too much, but it\u2019s not everything. These lavish and overproduced monster games, with thousands of cards or tons of miniatures, are aimed at rich, avid and dedicated gamers\u2026 even when they often end up un played in their libraries. Some of them are sold in game shops afterwards, but more and more are not – though there might be a second crowdfunding campaign, as with the 7th Continent. It even becomes a commercial argument – if you don\u2019t pledge, you might miss something great. There are many disturbing things in these campaigns, artificial stretch goals, invasive email updates aimed at making the buyer feel as if he is taking part in some sort of unfolding adventure, focus on the components and not on the game and its rules, conspicuous graphics\u2026 I bought some of them – it\u2019s a purchase, not a support – and while I have clearly made good use of the outstandingng Scythe and Blood Rage, the other ones left their box once at most.<\/em>
\nI have mixed feelings about this last use of kickstarter. The high prices are justified by gorgeous or lavish editions, but I\u2019m not sure the boardgames market really needs a luxury subcategory. The campaigns focus so much on big and detailed miniatures, on dark and gold graphics, that the games are becoming negligible – the same happened with video games and getting out of it is not easy. Publishers spend as much time and energy on the details of the campaign than on the details of the game, and there are now even promotion and commercial for kickstarter campaigns before they have even started. This \u00ab\u00a0professionalization\u00a0\u00bb of Kickstarter might sound good for those who get gorgeous editions of their designs, and sometimes make a small fortune on the side, but I\u2019m not sure it brings to game design and creativity much more than a huge waste of time and dispensable tons of plastic miniatures.
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Of course, this categorization is a bit of a caricature, and many games are in between two categories, if not three. My main point, however, is to stress the limitations of the many analysis which deal only with one aspect of kickstarter. <\/em>
\nEven when other crowdfunding platforms have almost disappeared, the sums raised on kickstarter have dwindled in 2016. I would not be surprised if the same happened also in 2017. Boardgames are the big exception, with both turnover and number of projects still growing. It is the economic sector most affected by a new funding and distribution process which had not been designed for it.<\/em>
\nI\u2019m an old designer, and I\u2019ve seen the traditional game design, publishing and distribution grow steadily over the last 30 years. I had a comfortable, if not lazy, place in this ecosystem, as a solitary designer. I\u2019ve always let publishers take financial risks, make decisions, take responsibilities and do the actual work. I promote my games on my website and at game fairs, but when I want and how I want, and largely for fun. In the new model pushed by kickstarter, and also by a few other trends, roles are not that separate anymore. People like Fred Henry or Jamey Stegmaier seem to enjoy it, but I don\u2019t really fit in. This is probably, as much as the serious analysis I tried to develop, the true reason why I\u2019m a bit wary of the kickstarter craze. I even have a card game prototype about Kickstarter, which proves it’s really on my mind..<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pour une fois, ceci n\u2019est pas vraiment un article que j\u2019avais envie d\u2019\u00e9crire, mais plut\u00f4t un article que l\u2019on m\u2019a demand\u00e9. R\u00e9guli\u00e8rement, depuis un ou deux ans, je suis interrog\u00e9 sur \u00ab\u00a0ce que je pense\u00a0\u00bb du crowdfunding de jeux de … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[269,379,242],"class_list":["post-8967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-le-monde-du-jeu-game-trends-and-styles","tag-argo","tag-formula-e","tag-kickstarter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2HNOP-2kD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8967"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9024,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8967\/revisions\/9024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}