Why Isn't Kickstarter A Good Deal Anymore?

It used to be easy to find a great buy on Kickstarter, a game that would offer you incentives, extras, a good price or something. Those still exist....but as Kickstarter and tabletop games within Kickstarter has grown....those games haven't. The tabletop category over the past decade has explored on Kickstarter, but for the most part it's exploded as a preorder system that barely rewards you for partaking in it. The publisher is seeing much higher margins per game when selling on Kickstarter, and yet you're paying the same price as you would in store. Why are so many companies on Kickstarter barely giving you a reason to back?

What happened here?

TimeStamps:
0:00:00 - Introduction & What Happened to Kickstarter
0:01:58 - Why Is There An Expectation That Kickstarter Should Be A Good Deal?
0:05:42 - Reason 1: Large vs Small Publishers
0:08:03 - Reason 2: Kickstarter is Growing and Thus Fracturing
0:11:47 - Reason 3: Protecting the MSRP & Value Perception
0:15:38 - Reason 4: Us

[gapclosergames]

Great Insights Alex! One thing to keep in mind is the Direct to Consumer model (which bypasses the Wholesale/Retail model) carries much larger marketing costs. Whether it's KS or post-campaign e-commerce, this cost of acquisition can range from 10% - 30%. Keep up the great work!

[JeffCBeck]

Very tiny publisher here - thought I would chime in on this fantastic conversation. For us, we use nearly 100% of any "profit" earned on Kickstarter to print game copies above the Kickstarter fulfillment level. Our actual profit (the stuff we take home to keep food on the table, etc) primarily comes from selling those extra games. So, at least from where we are coming from, we are giving as good a deal to backers as we possibly can afford. We don't look at Kickstarter as a profit center so much as an opportunity to print new games.

Now, to your point, much larger publishers who are on Kickstarter probably don't need to work that way. They (hopefully) have enough money in the bank to do a print run, regardless of how much money they earn during their campaign. That said, I'm happy they don't slash prices 30-40% on their campaigns, as that would make our campaigns pail by comparison in value.

So, like you said, it's a fine line. We obviously want to reward our backers for helping us make the game in the first place. But we can't go so far that the numbers just don't work out.

Anyhow - great video. Really enjoy the channel. Keep it up!

[joeferreti]

My impression is that the reason that Kickstarter games aren't a good deal anymore is that too many people blindly back too many KS projects that don't offer a good deal.
Thanks that you try to do something about it by making your videos.

[ScytheNoire]

This is really hitting on a problem I'm having with Kickstarter.
Take away games from tiny publishers, or individuals, who are just trying to get a game made. Those are not going to have the greatest value, but you are usually backing because you find the game interesting, want to see it made, and it won't be available at retail most likely. Those are more of what Kickstarter was originally meant for.

But then I see a game from a well established publisher, say AEG, and their Kickstarter for a much hyped, and what does look to be a great game, Dead Reckoning. The cost of that game doesn't seem to be a great value. The islands aren't dual-layer, even though they could really use it. Metal coins cost extra, and are not cheap. There is nothing deluxe, or special, about the Kickstarter. They claim it won't be coming to retail, yet they slap MSRP on everything to make it seem like you are getting a good deal. Other than the fact it looks like a great game, and they are tossing in an "expansion", also known as cut content to allow them to charge more (see video game industry practices), the game is not great value.

Compare that to what you get from a smaller publisher, games such as The Age of Atlantis or The Dwellings of Everdale, and you can see how drastically different they are. You can see the value in those, the deluxe versions you will be getting. You know those deluxe versions won't be coming to retail, it just wouldn't be financially viable at the price you paid when you factor in the extra channels.

This makes me feel like the bigger publisher is doing the Kickstarter just to pocket more money for themselves (which is fine), whereas those other smaller publishers are giving us something special, more than we'd get at retail for the same price.

[lotusmoon]

Great video man! I'm glad you made this to bring more awareness to this topic of value. One thing I am surprised you didn't mention, besides of course judging the value of a game if you should give a publisher money now or not on KS and if it's a good deal when you factor in shipping and how much the game will be at retail, you have to also factor in the time your money is being tied up as an investment. Especially now with covid going on and everything being pushed back, shipping being higher now, and the cost of games going up with "all in pledges" with things like sundrop and extras and what not, adds up into hundreds of dollars per KS very quickly. The more kickstarters you back, a person could have thousands of dollars tied up waiting for deliveries. So I do feel that it's crucial that the publisher has to provide a very good value for your money when you look at it like you're giving them a 0% interest loan in hopes you'll get your game in a timely manner and that it was worth your time waiting for sometimes years. Also one thing I have been wondering about is the 1$ back option to get into a pledge manager. This is becoming more and more common and this gives even more money into the publishers pockets since it also removes the 10% or whatever KS takes from the project right? Is this having any effect on KS relations with creators? As a backer, I use this often especially when I'm not sure on a project, and ultimately lesses the time my money is tied up to spend on other things. Also it gives time for the backer to see things like how production and testing of the game is going which sometimes reveal red flags as to not give any more money than the 1$ placeholder. Anyway if you actually read this long comment you're a legend, sorry if it kinda rambled on. Keep up the great content!

[elijaht.wreckingball]

Terrific video. Very insightful. I hereby vow to watch every one of your "to back or not to back" videos from now on.

[SirGoldeneyes]

I came across your channel a couple of weeks ago and I am just impressed at the quality of your videos, they way you critique games and Kickstarters are really fair. Thank you!

[noeldillabough]

I spend WAY MORE on Kickstarter than on a game I order from retail, even including my pimping up costs (which are substantial) the "all in" pledge is a killer! My biggest problem is I forget about games I pledged, then this GIGANTIC box arrives and I have to figure out where its going to go...

[KyawThurein]

"Why are so many companies on Kickstarter barely giving you a reason to back?" ... +1

[chadparker]

I seriously don't know how you do what you do. You have a job. A wife. Several kids (think 4, +/- 1), and you not only make the videos that I love to watch, but you find time to play games too! Not only do you make the videos, but I feel that they are quality videos. You are animated, informative, you make your videos convenient with the time stamps, and you make a LOT of videos . Keep up the great work, man. I love what you do

[markswitzer]

BoardGameCo is my new favorite youtube board game channel. I don't know why. Maybe just his cool, easy to listen to voice, his emphatically- but kindly- stated opinions, his knowledge. Just entertaining and informative, and watching removes the stress in my day. Thanks!

[VikingKittens]

Impressed at the increased quality of your videos and audio in the last 5 months. Well done! Wonderful video btw!

[techinthehead]

The theory of protecting MSRP is a thing in general retail but it also works in reverse. Santorini was on kickstarter for full price and later was selling for 12 dollars at major retailers. That soured the whole kick starter experience and haven't bought one since. Kickstarter has an early adopters tax once a game goes to retail.

[BoardGameCo]

Sorry this video was a bit late! I made the mistake of making an edit within Youtube....and it got locked up for an hour while processing. Lesson learned.

[drewteo]

I just knew about KS this year, before i knew about your channel, i backed every KS game that i like without considering the difference between retail and KS price, i just went All in for everything due to FOMO, not only adding the expansions but i did the add on such as the sleeves, play mat, art book, dice tower and whatever not. What you said in your videos make sense, and i learn a lot of from you, so thanks for that.

[Talliesyn]

Great points. The one thing that really gets me mad is when a big company puts the actual core game content in their stretch goals. Like unlocking 2 or 3 out of 4 playable characters when the whole game has no reason to be released without them... And of course later at retail they are already inside. So the whole SG journey, as they call it, seems pointless at best. At this point they could've just produced their game and sell it the traditional way.

[petarenev]

Great video as always! Alex, I think you are the most in-depth reviewer on YouTube and always have a great rationale! Respect!

[BeforeYouPlay]

Great topic! Kickstarters are always such a hot topic of debate for various reasons, but it's definitely a tough market with so much risk.

[NatanelApfel]

This was a really insightful and indepth look at this issue on both sides. I never thought about the additional margins that would need to be covered by smaller publishers for their start up costs such as art. Seems like something not well considered in some of these arguments...
Thanks for the great video!

[djsatan]

Very guilty of FoMO is why I appreciate your work as it put's some of my impulse purchases in check! One thing I was surprised you didn't really cover for benefit for the creator was we are helping to cover their production costs as well with essentially a zero interest loan and also a what are we going to do if they don't pay (deliver) on time vs a bank loan?