BackerKit Crowdfunding Platform?!? New Rival To Kickstarter & Gamefound! Big Names On Board!

#LiegeOfGames #boardgames #backerkit #gloomhaven

Backerkit just announced they're launching their own crowdfunding platform to rival Kickstarter and Gamefound. And they're already lured several big name publishers over to the site for their next big campaigns. How does this change the market? Gloomhaven, Spirit Island, & Dark Tower??? Let's talk!
Thanks for watching!

Time Stamp:
00:00 - A new challenger approaches
03:12 - Gloomhaven/effect
04:57 - More Spirit Island
05:58 - Return to Return to Dark Tower
08:40 - How it will affect funding?

[johninnaperville]

I think one of the big winners with a third platform is the hobby channels such as yours. I used to spend quite a bit of time on Kickstarter looking at things. Now I rely on channels such as yours that look into the type of games I am interested in to let me know what interesting projects are coming and where. I really don’t want to have to look at two sites with different access and now a third sort of seals that deal. I wish the developers the best and competition is the best way to keep fees reasonable. I hope that they also start really competing in better page formats and user accessibility. That would be a big plus

[mpaice]

Cepholfair said in their latest newsletter that Kickstarter's plans to be involved with the blockchain / NFTs was part of their decision. Smart move.

[Phalanx]

Really big news. I am super pumped to get my hands on another Spirit Island expansion!

[dabruuzer]

Thanks for the vid - I was not aware of this yet. You make some excellent points here, and I appreciate the balanced outlook. Nice scoop!

[voldosmith]

Didn’t know this, thanks for keeping me updated!

[Mepper.]

Now if only we had a meta-crowdfunding site that listed the projects from all the different crowdfunding sites (there are probably at least 6 now) with all sorts of filtering and sorting options...

[lindsayredding]

thanks for the video, I was not aware of this. This is very interesting competition is typically a good things for consumers, but I think visually they have a long way to go.

[IronSalamander]

Interesting. A ton of my KS games have had their pledges filled via backerkit. Curious how this will all pan out.

[blueseqperl]

Stoked about Nature Incarnate expansion for Spirit Island!

[rawkyle]

I have over 90 logged plays of gloomhaven, completed Jaws of the Lion, backed Frosthaven, and have zero intention of backing the miniatures campaign. I feel like that is a problem.

[WendyGa]

The list of names is impressive enough. I do think there is friction to joining a new crowdfundung site. The inertia is strong with Kickstarter. The sheer user base leads to discoverability for projects (similar projects, projects we love, ...). But BackerKit has the advantage that people likely have used it already post campaign. Curious to see where this is going.
I'm hoping for well designed campaign management features and backer friendly pages which make it worth using and easy to parse for backers.
Good luck with the work on the new studio!

[Fighterfan]

I've read rumors of an inevitable Spirit island expansion. I'll be a 'smaller' expansion but I expect something new to add to an already fantastic game.SI is my #1 game of all time . More content, the better.

[CheddahSlammer]

Recently I noticed projects that fund on gamefound and then they do another crowdfunding campaign on kick starter and get even more money. We see that happening now with Ancient Blood, and Bedevil Carnival is going to do the same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see repeats on all three, just for companies to get more money.

[svachalek]

I think you nailed it, this is all about fees. They’re not giving us much else to go on here. But from a business perspective it’s a serious coup. I think Kickstarter is going to seriously regret that they never got into the pledge management side of the business!

[johanmaes]

You didn't mention the old ball and chain, I mean blockchain!

[canuckavenger]

I am currently finalizing an international move and I have been dealing with that change of address across a whole whack of platforms. By far Backerkit was the easiest. I changed my country and address and 75% of my projects on the platform just auto updated. The one that they could improve was the ability to charge your outstanding balance immediately. I have a ton of pledges that I owe $1 or $2 on and there is no "change my credit card" button.

[Muffit]

Wonder if EU / UK board game companies won't start sticking to gamefound as it is closer to home with Tax laws etc

[terrencemiltner]

As usual, you ask the right questions. Will BackerKit provide the "foot traffic" to smaller projects. The bigger publishers have their audience.
I find myself thinking of shopping malls and anchor stores. What happens to a platform/mall if the big game publishers/anchor stores leave?
Then again, are *any* game publishers actually big enough to make any discernable difference to Kickstarter?
Guess we'll find out. If Gloomhaven minis underperforms (It's gonna get a lot of money, no doubt. But what will pundits say?) Is it the product or the channel?
I just like the idea suggested above that this helps content makers while it makes their work a little harder with another platform to monitor.
Then again, the companies will also have to work a little harder to get some attention.

[SamBalducci]

From the viewpoint of a creator, bring on more competition as it will lower prices and spur new features as the platforms compete.

As a backer, meh, who cares there is nothing to get excited about unless Backerkit provides some protections or has some policy that protect creators from running away with our money, forces some policy where the creator must update backers on the platform (not just Facebook as some do) on a regular basis or provides some way to get regress from bad creators. I doubt any savings will be passed on to backers.

Kickstarter has been a stale platform with little change to features and we know they do not enforce their own rules and they have a long list of playing politics vs playing fair especially in the comic book category. We know the Top Picks/Kickstarter Loves picks are bogus and tilted to who will make them more money.

Gamefound is less clear. I hate the "Backed Projects" page. I am always confused as to what I have yet to pay and does not allow me to mark projects I have recieved like I can do on KS. I do not believe we have seen a project not deliever on Gamefound and what they would do with that as they have not been around long enough. Their customer service is just as none existent as KS.

What will backerkit bring? I hope they bring a better way to manage your pledges as they are a pledge manager. I hope they have threaded discussion threads. I hope they have a calendar / timeline that is required by creators to maintain so we can see progress. How about showing EU backers the price + VAT and showing US backers just the price minus VAT and make the costs regional. How about transparency -- LOL! No sorry, I was still not awake when I wrote that. This may be a boon to creators but nothing for backers.

In the end, the creators are the customers because they are paying the website. Backers, we do not matter except as funding source and we see from Gamefound and Kickstarter they provide little for backers in terms of protections or features to help manage pledges. So, meh, who cares?

I am waiting for the vertically integrated platform. One where you can do the funding, the pledge manager, fulfillment and has customer service across many projects so that it is a one-stop shop for board game content.

[snoochieboochies]

Very interesting indeed. Didn't see that coming. As much as I enjoy painting minatures in my games. I'd be open to more games offering acrylic standees. Just not cardboard standees. I have a strong dislike towards cardboard standees. Thanks for the upload as always.