$460k not a lot of money to Sony, Blizzard, Valve, Bethesda, Ubisoft, ...

If $340K is "draining" your retirement, you're not the target investor. There are, however, plenty of people who would and should risk $340K for a quick lucrative payday.

You don't leave free money on the table. Period.

That might be true. I don't disagree. That's also not my point...

They walked away from $460K. Think about that. They had a chance to put their hands on almost 1/2 MILLION dollars in free money and couldn't even "rent" a loan from a relative or friend.

Its not about rather the game will ever get made or rather it will suck if it does. Its about a group of adults who 1) aren't trusted enough to borrow $340K or 2) are too inept to go after that money.

Yeah that's why I don't understand about this. $450k was pledged. Why are they not able to utilize that? Because they didn't reach an arbitrary goal? I don't understand. Isn't $450k better than $0?

I guess I don't understand how kickstarter works, but that seems idiotic.

If a project at your company is estimated at 800k, but the best you can get is 450k, are you still just gonna start the project and then just stop half way when the money ran out?


And it's not free money, that money has to go towards designing the game. So if they were to take their own money to fill the 800k, they're risking their own money. They can't just take it back out of the pot and live off the 330k that would be left over after kickstarter

Entrepreneurs must risk. That is how it works.

The point was that it would be an awful investment, there is no quick payday here.

These guys aren't entrepreneurs though. They're just some geeks that want to design a video game. If EA or whoever gave them a job to make that video game, they'd take it

I guess one must ask, why are these men unemployed?

When the only obligations are digital rewards to be delivered years down the road, it's close enough to free money.

I don't think they'd use the money for anything other than to try and make a great game (and maybe oxies for Brad). And you're wrong, people start business ventures and run out of money half way through all the time.

These are all professionals with experience. They're not risking any of their own money that they'd invest to help meet the goal. Staff salaries are a cost of development, no? Consulting fees? Maybe they need to contract a piece out to another company and that company happens to be the last-minute-angel?

There's a way to get your money back out. And I would argue that it's not any more risky than the risk they've already taken by joining a start-up over an established company.