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Tim Schafer says he hopes talk of Kickstarter can return to a positive conversation after a recent backlash against some developers using the crowdfunding platform.
His company, Double Fine, kick-started the Kickstarter craze a year ago by raising over $3.3 million for an old-school adventure game.
Since then, gamers have cooled to the platform, leading to the failure or cancellation of games by several high-profile studios.
"People don’t like just any Kickstarter anymore," Schafer told Gamesindustry.
"For a while, Kickstarter was so new and exciting they were just backing everything. Kickstarter projects have to be special, not just somebody’s next game, but a project that should not be made another way.
"Like, the fans would not want you taking money from a publisher for this game because they want you to make it for them, with their concerns in mind."
The backlash appears to be born of a skepticism so deep that some have even criticised Schafer’s original Double Fine Kickstarter.
"One article described me as reaching out of my mansion with my golden cup, asking for handouts. Obviously [the writer] has not been to my house," said Schafer.
"There’s been so much, ‘Oh, I’m getting sick of all these Kickstarters. Everyone’s Kickstarting everything. Why is it always old people who want to revive a dead genre?’ I think that backlash has happened, but I’m hoping for that to be over soon, so we can get back to talking about what an amazing, door-opening, positive thing Kickstarter is."
