10 Ways The Video Game Industry Takes Advantage Of Its Biggest Fans
3. Using Crowdfunding Campaigns Unnecessarily
Like early access games, crowdfunding is a fantastic way for underfunded developers to get their games finished without the support of a major publisher. Something like Broken Age was funded entirely by the fans, and others have been propped up and kept alive by the generous donations of fans. Last year however, never wanting to let an opportunity pass it by, Sony announced that they were launching a campaign to fund the much-anticipated Shenmue 3, a game they had every intention of helping fund themselves.
Why did they do this? Partly to test the waters, and partly to accumulate some of the initial cost without taking any real risks.
Further controversies have also surrounded other recent crowdfunding campaigns, some of which come after managing to secure the backing of big publishers prior to going to their fans for support.
This entry is particularly manipulative just because of how wonderful the concept of crowdfunding is in principle. Its a completely utopian ideal whereby anything, no matter how niche, can find an audience, and developers can become self-made successes without selling out to the interests of big business. In fact, its such a wonderful concept, companies like Sony should be particularly ashamed of themselves for exploiting the support of their fans in such a deceptive manner.