Chris Taylor says “Kickstarter is starting to wear itself out”

Following the closure of the Gas Powered Games’ Kickstarter project for their ARPG Wildman, Chris Taylor has been speaking at  Casual Connect Europe about his experiences in trying to get the game funded.

According to Taylor, the fund raising failure appears to be down to numerous factors including timing and the fact that he thinks Kickstarter is starting to “wear itself out”, but  he has no regrets at putting his idea on Kickstarter a and he explained he was not keen on rehashing an old idea.

“I don’t know if you know my career. I’m a little bit of nut. I didn’t want to do a nostalgia game or remake. I focused on an original idea. It wasn’t a copycat. But it didn’t work”.

“I’m a little more on the cynical side. Kickstarter is starting to wear itself out. It’s a numbers game. Someone has lightning in a bottle. This business is really, really tough. It’s turning into a lottery business, unless you work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and study gaming for decades”.

“Now, it’s tough. It’s like going to Hollywood and saying I want to make films. You have to compete with James Cameron. I’m leaning toward there is no free lunch”.

Wildman was a completely new game idea and Taylor struggled at the start to explain his game with potential supporters confused as to whether it was an ARPG, strategy or even a MOBA, a fact that Taylor acknowledged when we spoke to him a couple of weeks ago.  Taylor added:

“There was a heyday in the 1990s where you could burst in the door of a publisher and you could get a contract. You blew your budget anyway, and they dealt with it. “That has locked itself so tight. Consoles are going to just hit the wall. The guys who wrote these big checks — that’s just gone.”

“I have almost been driven out of business. I am still in business. I know everyone in the industry. They didn’t help me. It’s about whether you have a blockbuster that can ship 10 million units.”

The Wildman Kickstarter is one of the topics in this week’s podcast/vidcast and you can hear our thoughts on its failure. Much of what we discuss mirrors Taylor’s thoughts on the matter.

Thanks Venturebeat