2013 marks the rise of independent game producers around the world. Never before has someone with a great product idea and the competence to pull it off been able to readily focus the purchasing power of existing and new supporters to a singular project that will only succeed as a direct result of their support.
In his book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us,
In effect, Indiegogo, Kickstarter, Pozible, and other emerging platforms have enabled creative types to direct the energy of a tribe towards a common goal that results in the creation of a new product that could change the world.
Matthew Jones, the founder of Notion Games, is a great example of this phenomenon. He recently launched a Kickstarter project for Super Ubi Land (PC, Mac, Linux, Wii U), and successfully attracted enough support to raise $6,333. Described as “a console/PC gaming love-letter to the classic 2D platformers of the early and mid-90s like Super Mario Bros 3, DKCountry, and Kirby’s Adventure,” the mission is to help Ubi fight past hordes of enemies, collect the pieces to his spaceship, defeat Dr. Terrestrial, and return safely to his home planet.
This game has seen great success both on and off Kickstarter. Super Ubi Land’s tech demo has maintained the TOP 5 spot on the SCIRRA Arcade since it’s initial release (July 2012), with over 34,000 plays. Super Ubi Land also got put in the Top 80 out of 880 games and in the TOP 15 Platformers category (according to PixelProspector.com). Finally, the game has caught the attention of Nintendo and was approved for the Wii U console.
As you might know, our mission is to give you the tools and information you need to rally your own tribe of backers around a cause, which can help bring your project to life. Matthew was nice enough to answer a few questions about the campaigning process and the marketing strategies he used to successfully raise $6,333 on Kickstarter. Check out his website here!
What’s the story behind catching the attention of Nintendo?
We had been working on “Super Ubi Land” as a practice game to prepare us for making the game that we really wanted to make: “Team Notion the Game.” As we worked on “SUL,” we would update our Youtube and Facebook pages with progress, and we posted demos onto the Scirra Arcade. By staying active with social networking and constantly exploring online, we met the guys at AckkStudios (their game “Two Brothers” is going to be a new classic, I know it). They referred us to Emily Rogers, and then Emily sent us some Twitter messages about getting a Nintendo dev license and about bringing “Super Ubi Land” to the WiiU eShop.
Lots of Kickstarter project owners have trouble “finding” the audience for their product aside from friends and family. How did you go about marketing the campaign and what have you learned?
Marketing begins long before you activate your Kickstarter. We had been on the Scirra Arcade top six for months (since we posted the first demo), and Drew (artist/programmer) has a strong Youtube fanbase. We’re also always updating our Facebooks and our Notion Games Facebook page. Our marketing strategy is simple: be visible. Keep everything updated, and contact the review sites and magazines. In our case, because we were building a game for the WiiU, we had the support from the Nintendo news sites as well as the indie game news sites. The video game community is very supportive if they believe that you’ve got a good product.
Where did most of your pledges come from? Family? Friends? Blogs?
Our families stayed out of our Kickstarter for the most part. Family being the primary source of your Kickstarter is probably indicative of a weak product. Friends are a little better because they don’t necessarily feel the need to help out unless they actually want what you’re making. Most of our money (I’d say 90%) came from supporters and fans who found us through the Nintendo news sites like Pure Nintendo or Ninty Chronicle. And a lot of our funding came from retweets on Twitter. Like I said, the video game community is supportive, and even the really influential Tweeters are very accessible.
What kinds of preparations did you make for the campaign and looking back, how would you advise people to prepare?
Look at the time of year. December would not be good because of holidays. August would not be good because of school. We held our Kickstarter throughout March and April — the time of year when everyone is getting money back on their taxes. Also, don’t be afraid to change around the reward tiers. We added a $15 tier a few weeks in because of what people were saying in the discussion boards. When fans are paying on faith, you gotta meet them halfway sometimes.
Do you have any advice for people looking to do a game crowfunding campaign?
If nobody knows you, fix that before you hold your Kickstarter (unless of course your project is so incredible that people will want it immediately). Get on the indie game forums. If you’re coding in an engine, get on the forum for that engine (Scirra or Gamemaker etc). Post builds of your game. Send emails. Be transparent. Get feedback on your game before you decide to show the World (Kickstarter) what they’re going to be paying for. An incomplete-looking game is going to be a difficult sell.
