• DOI:10.1007/s40869-017-0031-x
• Corpus ID: 8094324

Crowdfunding Nostalgia: Kickstarter and the Revival of Classic PC Game Genres

@article{Gilbert2017CrowdfundingNK,
  title={Crowdfunding Nostalgia: Kickstarter and the Revival of Classic PC Game Genres},
  author={Andrew Simon Gilbert},
  journal={The Computer Games Journal},
  year={2017},
  volume={6},
  pages={17-32}
}

• A. Gilbert
• Published 8 February 2017
• Business
• The Computer Games Journal

The Kickstarter crowdfunding platform has promised to subvert what many developers and players see as a hierarchical computer games industry which is skewed toward benefiting large corporate publishers. With crowdfunding, developers appeal directly to players as a direct source of funding, ostensibly allowing them to create the games players want to play. While initial successes of some computer game Kickstarter campaigns generated enthusiasm, it remains to be seen whether crowdfunding represents a “game changer” that can permanently disrupt established practices of corporate publishers. This article argues that the developer/player funding relationship contains limitations and tensions of its own, most notably a reliance on nostalgia for classic gaming experiences, a greater level of public scrutiny over the development process, and constraints on the capacity to modify project goals during the post-investment phase.