Still from the Kickstarter video for Night Trap ReVamped. Night Trap, LLC
If you’re going to launch a Kickstarter, especially in gaming, be prepared to respond to skeptics—quickly, thoroughly, and with plenty of evidence.
The developers behind Night Trap ReVamped are learning this the hard way. For their proposed high-definition re-release of the controversial 1992 Sega CD game—controversial, but really just a campy PG rubber-suit horror movie starring Dana Plato—they are asking for $330,000 in crowdfunding.
Immediately, other game developers began questioning the viability of the project. Was it really going to be possible to develop the game and also print thousands of discs for PlayStation and Xbox consoles for just $330,000? Furthermore, what did the developers mean by “PlayStation and Xbox”? PlayStation 4 and Xbox One? PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360?
A Kotaku reporter attempted to get some of these questions answered, and described the ensuing phone conversation with executive producer Tom Zito as “strange” and “terse.” It ended with Zito saying he had to care for his sick 10-year-old son and abruptly hanging up.
The Kotaku interview was practically the only back-and-forth we were seeing between the makers of Night Trap and the public. Although the very first line of the Kickstarter pitch was a link to a Twitter account, said account had only a handful of perfunctory updates. Although the “comments” section of the Kickstarter was alive with activity and questions, Night Trap, LLC only started to actually participate in the comments after a few days of silence.
Exchanges like the following are not likely to inspire confidence.
Kotaku: … I mean, like, for example money. Some people think you’re asking too much, others think it’s too little—people don’t know what to think. Maybe more clarity on how you plan to pull this off would be good.
Zito: That just shows that lots of people have lots of different opinions.
It is entirely possible Night Trap has done its homework and is seeking the right amount to make this game happen. But Kickstarter backers are looking for more than “trust us.” Many gaming Kickstarters have been released, and fans are quite happy with the results. But a few have been cancelled and the money kept, others have dragged on in vaporware status, or been released in a form backers found unacceptable.
At this point, would-be Kickstarter creators should expect, plan for, and vigorously respond to probing questions about the viability of their project.
Still from the Kickstarter video for Night Trap ReVamped. Night Trap, LLC
It’s part of growing up: Kickstarter backers are learning by experience that Kickstarter is not a store. You are taking a risk: Maybe the product isn’t what you wanted, maybe it takes forever, maybe it’s obsolete by the time it comes out, maybe it doesn’t come out.
Faced with this reality, maybe even having been burned yourself once or twice, you either stop backing Kickstarters or try to find ways to mitigate your risk. Number one on that list is asking questions, and either doing some digging to find the answers or posing them to the developers.
Who Are Your Skeptics?
Skeptics aren’t trying to make you look bad or ruin your project. If anything, they are paying attention, and more likely to actually back your project if they get answers they like.
It doesn’t matter if you, project creator, are 100 percent confident that you are up to the task. With the exception of scam artists, everyone is sure that they can finish their Kickstarter project for the amount specified in the time specified. You need to prove it, with as much data as you can muster.
Kickstarter, from a creator’s perspective as well, is not a store; your would-be backers are not your customers but your investors.
Night Trap’s initial confusion over questions about what “PlayStation” and “Xbox” mean was worrying. It betrayed what appeared to be a lack of understanding about the underlying technology of the project. Does that slip-up mean the project is doomed? Certainly not. But if you’re contemplating backing a Kickstarter, due diligence means looking for reasons not to back it. Find all the flaws you can. Question everything. Consider all the downsides. If it still looks like a solid investment once you’ve chipped away at the proposal from every angle, go for it.
When you launch a Kickstarter, be overly prepared, not just with the details on your home page but with the answers to any question someone might ask about where the money is going to go. (If secrecy is a concern, crowdfunding may not be for you.)
On Wednesday, Zito apologized for Night Trap’s reticence and said the company will participate more vigorously in the comments section.
The Night Trap campaign has a long way to go, given that it has a little more than $18,000 in pledges thus far. It may end up being the case that there was no demand to revive Night Trap at this level of funding, and that it wouldn’t have mattered if its makers hadn’t stumbled a bit coming out of the gates.
But there’s something to be said for not stumbling in the first place.
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