Crowd-funding is the way to go these days, it seems, what with Mighty No. 9 getting funded in a weekend (and going on to gross over $4 million) and Zeboyd Games taking Cosmic Star Heroine to Kickstarter on top of the other hundred Kickstarter stories I could link here, so it makes sense that other companies, even the big ones, are taking notice. The notable differences here is that the company involved is Indiegogo instead of Kickstarter and Squeenix isn't actually making a game, but rather encouraging everyone else to do so. If you're lucky and have a good idea for it, you can even use an old Eidos IP as your basis with Squeenix's blessing....since they're the ones publishing it anyway. We don't know -what- IPs just yet, of course, but I imagine there's one that's off the table...because of its terrible, awful, no-good, very bad announced iteration that I still refuse to believe is real.
What this collective process is is basically an additional step before going up on Indiegogo that'll get you a little bit of a running start. You detail your pitch and a community gets to vote on it. If it's voted for favorably over a given length of time, it's then submitted to Indiegogo so that people can actually contribute to its funding, thus granting it a little visibility beforehand to ensure that word-of-mouth occurs. It's basically Steam's Greenlight service, except you then add the crowd-funding aspect to it after it's approved, and the extra step should, in theory, help it get noticed. Which should then, in theory, help it get funded since Indiegogo is...much less known than Kickstarter. With the end-all goal of being helping out the projects to actually get funded, of course so they can get out there.
It's just an interesting thing all around because of Squeenix's backing and because of their decision to allow for the use of old IPs that they're (apparently) not using. Most companies tend to just sort of sit on IPs that they're not using nor plan on using and it's a shame because you think back on the games that spawned from them and remember just how fun they generally were, at least if they were. The only problem with the set-up is that it's just Eidos properties right after you see the Squeenix involvement and laugh because there are so many properties under Squeenix's label that -honestly- need attention. Proper attention. Whereas I can't really think of any Eidos properties beyond the ones that are getting games made for them currently. (Deus Ex, Tomb Raider......Legacy of Kain, technically) Still, I'm sure there'll be some with potential when we get a list. After all, what would be the point otherwise?
Of course, it's not -just- a project to have indies make new iterations into standing series, since you'll be able to post just about any idea you could want on the Collective. The only issue with that, however, is that with Squeenix publishing your game, it's up in the air as to whether or not they're going to want the IP to it or if you'll be able to negotiate that. Obviously they're going to get a cut of it as well, and you as the indie simply have to decide whether or not what Collective offers is enough that you'll want to give up that much to make it happen. Personally, I'm assuming there's going to be a very real 'wait and see' approach to this at first which is...less than ideal for this type of project. The other caveat is that, I'm guessing Squeenix is only publishing, meaning you're not going to get to assume some sort of help with development or funding - after all, you're getting your money from Indiegogo members. Still, it's an interesting prospect, and there's certainly some things that can come from it! I look forward to seeing what people attempt, myself.
hello yes, I would like to reboot Robotrek please, it would be awesome
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