Develop Conference: Barnden and Buckland question effect of failed crowdfunded projects

Stainless founders air concerns over Kickstarter

The Kickstarter bubble could burst at any moment, claim the founders of Carmaggedon developer Stainless Games.

Speaking at the Develop in Brighton conference, the studio’s chief executive Neil Barnden said they had to move quick to bring their project to the crowdfunding site before the current euphoria surrounding it abated.

He added that whilst he believed Kickstarter wouldn’t go away completely, video pitches would have to find new ways to stand out to bring in funding.

"There’s bound to be an amount of fatigue, as we saw really," said Barnden.

"We saw the success of a number of games projects and thought we’ve got to get in there now. The bubble could burst at any moment.

"Looking back at it now, and moving forward, I don’t think there’s any worry that it’s going to go away or fail. But I do think people are going to have a damn good pitch put forward to get funding."

Stainless CEO Patrick Buckland added that inevitably not all games would succeed in meeting expectation, and said their needed to be rules in place to protect contributors.

"When things start failing, and they will fail, people are going to start getting pissed off," he said.

"I don’t know how it will work, but there needs to be some sort of guarantee for those funding these projects."

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