March 27, 2012 Update: Kickstarter continues to see the growth of many otherwise unfunded games, including Wasteland 2 that seemed fated to development hell but raised half a million in just 24 hours on Kickstarter.
Why He's Powerful
The crowd-funding site, Kickstarter, has been offering individuals and independent teams an opportunity to see their ideas grow into tangible projects. When game developers Tim Schafer and Rob Gilbert announced their intention for a collaborative effort to develop an adventure game, the Internet's ears perked up.
Although they only posted a goal of $400,000 that they hoped to earn in a month, they cracked a million bucks in 24 hours. The Kickstarter campaign broke records for highest number of backers and most funds raised in 24 hours. In fact, they reached their goal in just over eight hours, and are currently sitting on over $2 million—a whopping 511% funded pledge—to complete their project.
Tim Schafer's Double Fine Productions is the first well-known studio to enter the Kickstarter ring, but Kickstarter has helped enable the success of multiple game projects that would otherwise likely not see the light of day. Projects like storytelling spy boardgames and other genres of interest can be found on the Kickstarter Games section, and supporters can even choose to fund events like Kill Screen Magazine's indie showcase that expand gaming to new groups of people.