"Crowdfunding is fundamentally a marketing and a community exercise" – What developers need to know about funding a game with Kickstarter in 2026
Crowdfunding, particularly on platforms like Kickstarter, remains a viable, albeit challenging, method for game developers to secure partial funding and build community. While headline figures have decreased since 2015, 2025 saw $26 million raised across 443 successful projects, with 55 exceeding $100,000. Success now requires a near-complete game, significant marketing, and an engaged audience, shifting crowdfunding's focus from a funding source to a marketing and community exercise.
- Entities
- Company: Skyhook Games
- Game: Crescent County
- Topic: Crowdfunding
- Person: David Harper
- Topic: Marketing
- Person: Thomas Bidaux
- Game: Elite Dangerous
- Person: Anna Hollinrake
- Company: ICO Partners
- Game: Atre: Dominance Wars
- Topic: Community Building
- Company: Kickstarter
- Game: The Red Solstice
- Company: Kinetic Publishing
- Company: Ironward
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