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Creating a game can be a costfull process, if you are working on it full time with around 4 people for 2 years (buidling from scratch) you need about €400.000 for salaries alone. (An average medior skilled employee will easily cost €50.000 a year) (I want to work with skilled people that are available 24/7, not hobby programmers etc. that just do it on the side for fun. I need 100% dedication and motivation)

Is using crowdfunding like kickstarter usefull for small game developers? Can this really get you the required amount of money?

Most projects on (for eaxmple) kickstarter that are started by well known names in the industry collect a lot of money (sometimes over a million).

As a small team being 'unknown' anyone can start a project, but how can you get enough funding? I don't see myself collecting about €400.000 using sites like kickstarter. Not even with the best idea in the world, because people simply don't know you and will not invest in anything they don't believe can be accomplished.

I would prefer not to need investors since they will have the biggest share in your company and you need to do what your told by them, thus loosing all sorts of freedom in the development process. Also they will need a some sort of guarantee about how you are planning to earn money with the game, which of course you don't know about at the start.

In the Netherlands it is possible to get funds from the government for this sort of stuff, but that's still a really small portion of what is needed.

So my real question is: what is the best way to gather the required amount of money to start game developing full time?

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    \$\begingroup\$ 24/7 availability from employees is unreasonable. Also you should aim to finish your first game in half a year instead of in two years. When starting from scratch without money, you have to start from small. \$\endgroup\$ – msell Dec 22 '12 at 13:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ Ok I might have exaggerated a bit there, but the point being I want dedication, not people that work 40 - 60 hours a week and have little to no time left to do some extra work for me. Usually those people are paid :) Off course I aim to finish a game in less time, maybe version 1.0 can be done in 6 months. But creating a full platform with a well worked out game can take more time. Especially since we need to start from (almost) scratch \$\endgroup\$ – Thomas Dec 22 '12 at 13:12
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    \$\begingroup\$ Well, I think I need anything between €400.000 and €600.000 to be able to work on this for 1 to 2 years (including housing, hardware, software and external purchases). I know my skillset and I have the contacts to get people to supplement me (ie. designers, audio development etc). \$\endgroup\$ – Thomas Dec 22 '12 at 13:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ If you think that you might not reach €400.000 with a kickstarter project, how about starting with a lower budget which offers less game functionality and set the €400.000 as milestone for the product with all features. If you really have to start "from scratch" as you say, if you don't have a lot of funding experience you might miscalculate your goal. Having a smaller startup goal and adjusting milestones and budget on your way might be your way out. \$\endgroup\$ – cppanda Dec 22 '12 at 13:51
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    \$\begingroup\$ I assume you're Dutch. So get in contact with the Dutch Game Garden, they will help you set up your business plan and get funding, they will also help you getting some government funding and know a lot of people in the bizz. Their goal is to help people exactly like you and they will make sure your ideas are good (game, technology and management wise) before they allow you to proceed so they reduce the chance of failure. \$\endgroup\$ – Roy T. Dec 22 '12 at 14:48
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Crowdfunding can be very successful, and it is designed for entrepreneurs, not well-established businesses. It not only gets you needed funding, it gives you incentive to finish, so you can deliver the promised gift. An awesome crowdfunding site that just launched is http://gamelaunched.com. It is like kickstarter, except exclusively for games. It also is set up to be a store, so you can sell your completed games, which is different from Kickstarter.

To get the needed crowdfunding, be honest and open. Post your contact information, and make it easy for people to find you. Show your face explaining it in the video. That is the biggest thing. If they know you aren't hiding anything, they can be sure you are actually trying, and aren't just a scam that'll run off with the money. Next, let them know you can complete the project. Sound confident. Link to any previous game projects you completed, and give them a deadline. Show you have actually started production. The final thing is to show the game is fun. Describe the game in detail. Demonstrate how it will work in the video.

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