Game publishers are taking notice of Kickstarter games, says Obsidian developer

Game publishers seem to be paying attention to developments on Kickstarter. According to Strategy Informer, Obsidian’s Creative Director Chris Avellone talked about publishers taking notice of old-school RPGs being successfully funded on Kickstarter during a talk at indie and PC gaming expo Rezzed.

“These Kickstarters for RPGs have been really successful, they have garnered more backer support and more funding than many had thought, and we have noticed that publishers have paid attention to that and they are aware of the success these projects have had,” Avellone explained.

Project Eternity is the most funded game on Kickstarter

“We have actually had companies reach out to us and go ‘you know what, for that price point, which is a much smaller risk than a lot of our AAA titles where there’s a lot more at stake, that’s much less risk for us and we wouldn’t mind exploring the idea of doing old-school RPGs that are set up like this’. That totally floors me, I did not realise there would be that sort of sea change from publishers, but apparently there are a number of publishers that realise that doing an Eternity-style game is a good fit for them, and I am thankful for that.”

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Avellone is well known among gaming circles for his work on some very high-profile games, including Alpha Protocol and Fallout: New Vegas. He is currently working as a writer/designer for Kickstarter RPGs, including Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera and Project Eternity.

Originally, Obsidian didn’t want to pitch Project Eternity to publishers since publishers these days prefer to stick to formulaic sequels rather than niche titles.