Kickstarter Campaign by Bill Stiernberg Spoken at the Art Institute of Houston and Houston-North Campuses on March 1st, 2014

1. Bill Stiernberg
Zeboyd Games
Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd
Email: bill.zeboyd@gmail.com

2.  I. Intro
 II. Kickstarter Basics
 III. Pros and Cons
 IV. Q & A
 V. Project ideas!

3. Robert Boyd
Co-Founder
Bill Stiernberg <-That’s me

4. Robert Boyd
Co-Founder
That’s me

5.  Crowdfunding
 Marketing tool?
 Truly a Campaign

6.  Marketing
 Know your audience, and your fans!
 How do they hear about projects?
 Give people a story!
 Think outside the box
 Investment or Patronage?

7.  Overview
 Title
 PitchVideo
 Elevator Pitch
 Funding Goal
 Description
 Rewards &Tiers
 Risks & Challenges

8.  First thing they see
 Catchy “title” image
 Professionally produced?
▪ Audio andVideo

9.  Short and sweet!
 Boring!?
 Show gameplay or other teaser
 Be honest, put yourself out there – if you can
 Do they really watch it?
 Sometimes.

10.  “A succinct and persuasive sales pitch.”
 Limited # of characters
 Focus on:
 WHAT the project is
 WHO is making it
 PLATFORMS it is for
 CREDIBILITY
▪ “New turn-based RPG from the creators ofCthulhu
Saves the World. Inspired by ChronoTrigger, Phantasy
Star & Suikoden. PC/Mac/PS4/Vita.”

11.  Affects your project scope
 Affects your likelihood of funding
 Crucial FIRST 48 hours
 Crucial FINAL 48 hours
 Account for ALL:
 Development
 Contractors
 Physical rewards
 SHIPPING
 Kickstarter, Amazon Fees
 Tax issues

12.  CATCH their attention!
 Make it pretty, polished, animated
 Give them what they’re looking for FIRST

13.  Unique aspects of project
 CREDIBILITY is big!
 Fun additional game info
 ACCOUNTABILITY section
 Reward section
 Risks & Challenges

14.  What do they typically want?
 Game
 OST
 Art books, early access, credits,T-shirts, etc.
 Unique offerings that don’t kill your funding
 Fan involvement
 Rewards != Sales

15.  Digital or Physical Rewards?
 Smooth tier variance
 Increase value for modest increase in funding

16.  Required section by Kickstarter.com
 Be honest
 Few game projects ever go exactly as planned
 Focus on your credibility
 Give yourself wiggle room – especially on
release dates / rewards

17.  Pros
 Keep up momentum
 Increase funding
 Bigger game scope
 Cons
 Changes scope of project
 May overburden dev team
 Easy to underestimate

18.  Plan for your rewards
 Support your new community
 Regular updates
 Social media, website

19.  Pros:
 Don’t need a publisher!
 Direct fan support
 Possibly more creative freedom
 Set a budget tailored to your needs
 Marketing & visibility
 Build a community

20.  Cons
 Easy to underestimate costs
 Easy to underestimate time
 Backers’ expectations?
 Answerable to hundreds, thousands
 Pressure!
 Reward fulfillment
 Campaigning = a full time job

21.  Shantae ½ Genie hero
 Chasm
 Hyper Light Drifter
 Shovel Knight
 Cosmic Star Heroine (that’s us!)

22.  Bill Stiernberg
 Zeboyd Games
 Twitter:
 @bill_at_zeboyd
 Email:
 bill.zeboyd@gmail.com