Are point and click adventure games dead? Publishers say yes, according to Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, but they’re also wrong. Today Double Fine announced Double Fine Adventure – a new point and click adventure game helmed by the people who brought you the classic Monkey Island. So how are they going to do this without a publisher? By getting the money directly from YOU!
Ahem.
Well maybe not just you, but by people like you. Double Fine have started a drive over on Kickstarter, a place for people to donate towards projects, and so far they’ve obliterated their initial goal of $400,000 and have now raised $700,000 in less than a day!
Double Fine have been trying to get a publishing deal for a new adventure game for years, but have been repeatedly shot down by publishers, who claim that there’s no market in the current industry for this type of game. The fact that the project has, at time of writing, over 17,000 backers, would seem to refute this a little.
You can check out the rewards on offer for donating over on the kickstarter page. $15 gets you the game on release, as well as the video series documenting the entire production of the game. Double Fine say that it’ll be a kind of collaboration between the studio and fans, with backers able to have a say in the production and design of the game.
This would seem to be pretty big news for an industry currently choking on insane development budgets that require millions and millions of dollars in investment from publishers. Currently a creative idea also has to appear marketable and financially viable for a publisher to consider sinking money into it, leading, in many cases, to an inevitable watering down of that creative spark. However now, it appears that even big name developers can source their game development from the fans themselves.
Double Fine Adventure is currently almost at double its initial goal. Schafer has stated that surplus donation will go towards developing the game for a variety of platforms, and will also go towards making the game itself bigger and better.
I’ve never paid for a game before it’s even begun to be made, but I’m putting my trust in the veterans over at Double Fine on this one.
