Kickstarter-funded games are all the rage these days. Independent developers are thrilled with the creative freedom crowd-funding offers, but there are some that are skeptical of the model. One interesting alternative is Gambitious, which is set to launch at E3 2012 according to Gameindustry.biz. Instead of finding donors for companies, backers buy equity in games. Here’s more from CEO Korstiaan Zandvliet:
The main difference between Gambitious and the currently popular Kickstarter is that the former does not rely on donations. Instead, a developer decides what percentage of the required funding people can buy. Someone who invests money in a project, becomes a shareholder and is entitled to dividends.
The model is compelling for both the developer and the backer. Developers have more flexibility with how their games are funded, while backers stand to earn some money back. While it doesn’t have the romantic feel of donating to “dream” projects, I imagine that there are many people that would be more comfortable with Gambitious’ model than Kickstarter’s system.
How do you feel about Gambitious? Would you rather buy equity in a game than donate to a developer? Or does the difference not matter to you?
