Crowdfunding is an interesting new way of gaining funds for your game. Essentially the idea goes that a game developer (or generic “project creator”) will put his project up on a website dedicated to said crowdfunding and ask users for money in return for perks, typically a free game or something like that. It’s a great system that has helped hundreds of developers rake in thousands of dollars to continue development on their respective games. Unfortunately, hundreds, probably even thousands more continually fail to receive the money needed.

I think the thing most game developers don’t realize is that game development, in all walks of the process, should essentially be about marketing. Marketing is key to the success of your game. If you think you can just create something and it will sell then you’re setting yourself up for failure. Crowdfunding is is the exact same idea. You’re selling something and you need people to buy it to continue your development. Only with crowdfunding you’re mostly selling on potential of the idea rather than a completed product, which makes crowdfunding so much more interesting.

So given my unique experience with crowdfunding (I founded 8-Bit Funding), general games marketing and writing I’ve decided to lay out my expertise on the matter.

If you follow this to the letter will you 100% get your money? No. Sometimes you need the right product in the right place. But if you follow this will you at least give your project a fighting chance? You bet!

It all starts with the BASICS: Trailer, Description, Screenshots

Crowdfunding your game all comes down to the basics and when we’re talking about game projects the basics include the game. What are you selling, what makes your game special?

The short of it is that you need to present your project in a way that appeals to people. The development video that’s 12 minutes long and shows mostly code with no audio from 3 months back? Trash it. It has no place representing your crowdfunding project. People funding these games want to see immediate gameplay. They want to see what they can expect out of a final project. And they want to see (or at least hear) you talk about it. If you need money you better be damned passionate about your game to at least talk about it on the video.

Which leads me to the second point: the game’s description. Not all users can watch a video either due to technical constraints, time, or they just don’t feel like it. As such you need a fully thought out description that users can gloss over. One or two paragraphs isn’t enough. You need to explain:

• Title, platform, price(?) of your game.
• When you’re planning release.
• Description of your game.
• Why you need money.
• Who you are or who your team is.

As much information as you can provide the better. You’re not only selling your game project, but you’re selling yourself. Funders want to know you are serious about completing your project and that you’re motivated enough to actually describe it correctly.

Finally, screenshots. Most crowdfunding services don’t offer a direct screenshot upload area aside from the widget thumbnail (although 8-Bit Funding will soon!). As a game developer you should know that screenshots are the best way to leave an immediate impact on your fans. They can be the difference between success and failure. Even if you can’t upload directly into the site, upload them to a gallery (Imgur, for example) and put the link in the description.

Talk, talk, talk

When you’ve got your project essentials down and you’re about ready to publish there’s still the matter of actually getting people interested in your project.

Let it be known right now that putting your project up on a site, no matter which one it is, will not be enough to get the funds you need. Nobody gets funding by just sitting back and watching money roll in. You need to actively get people involved… and the best way to do that is to TALK about your game.

Talk to your friends about it. Talk to your associates. Talk to your fans. Talk to your family. Talk to people you’ve just met. Talk on Facebook. Talk on Twitter. Talk on Google Plus. Talk on forums. Talk on Reddit. Talk on your blog. Talk to other blogs (news sites). Talk… talk… talk.

If you’re not talking about your game or funding project then NOBODY is talking about it. And if nobody is talking about your project then nobody will fund you.

I know it sounds almost stupidly simple, but it’s often the biggest demise for projects. I’ve seen some truly amazing games get overlooked in funding for others simply because the developer wasn’t doing anything to bring people to the game or project.

You have to be relentless. You have to be determined. Some people might get annoyed with you. Some people might ignore you. It doesn’t matter though, you need to be constantly discussing the game.

Make no mistake, marketing your project is a full time job. Give it a half-assed treatment and you’ll get half-assed attention.

The good news is that by constantly talking about your game and getting funders and general interest, you’ll inevitably help your game’s long term success as well because you’re building a fan base. These people will have a vested interest at this point in following your game. Use that to your advantage.

And for the love of crackers, if you get an interview with a publication MENTION your funding project. Even if they don’t ask, mention it. It will only do good if you’re able to directly connect your funding project with the readers of a publication.

Use the crowdfunding tools!

It always astounds me when project creators don’t use the tools available to them. There are so many of them and in order to succeed, game developers should be using every last one at their disposal.

Let’s start with the in-site features, and by that I mean the features in the crowdfunding websites:

Each of the major crowdfunding sites have at least three tools to allow you to connect with your funders: Updates, Comments, and the widget.

First the Updates area. There is no simpler method than refreshing everybody who has backed you that you still exist than by writing an update. It sends out an email and gives the user a very specific reason as to why you should check out what you wrote. After all, they have an incentive to find out what’s going on.

Time and again I’ve seen project creators neglect the updates option. Maybe it’s because they don’t think they have anything to write about. Well you do. Write about the latest updates, write to say thank you, write to say what’s on your mind about the current project. WRITE ANYTHING. And include a blurb at the bottom asking your readers to spread the project to their friends, etc. Easy-peasy. Dedicated readers who want to see your project become successful.

Second, the comments. Readers like to comment on your project, ask questions and generally just vocalize their opinions. Never let a stray comment be ignored. This is a prime opportunity for you to connect with your fans or potential funders. In fact, a reply could be the very thing that will convince a potential funder to fund you, or fund you for more than he/she was originally planning. Communication shows dedication. Dedication breeds confidence.

Finally, each website provides you with a widget. Very simple. Take this widget and embed it on every place you own. Your game’s blog, your Facebook page… EVERYTHING. This gives any passerbys to the other areas of your life a clear connection with your project. You don’t even have to do anything else. This is probably the easiest method to connect your entire life with your project initiative. On this note, also just make sure you link your project around as well (without the widget).

Use traditional web tools as well…

Okay so you’ve got your updates running and your replying to comments, etc. Great! But that doesn’t mean you can skimp on the traditional tools as well. In fact, this part applies to all game developers no matter if they’re seeking funding or not.

When I say traditional web tools I’m primarily referring to: Facebook, Twitter, dev site/blog, and some other tertiary sites like IndieDB.

It is extremely important to have a Twitter and Facebook fan page for people to follow and “like” respectively. This is direct communication with fans and others who might just share your interests. I’ve seen developers who neglect to use either and very, very rarely have they gone on to lead successful projects, funding or otherwise. In the social web world that we live in these are mandatory, no matter how much you might despise them.

And don’t just create them and leave them to be. USE them. Use them everyday. Talk to people. Cross promote on each of your social networks to get users to add you on both.

It might seem intimidating to start, but it’s really not that difficult. The easiest way I found to get active users across both was to start on Twitter. Start following a bunch of people who share you interests (other game developers and news/media sites) and try to pick up conversations with them. Reply and make comments. Then when you’ve got some followers ask them to like you on Facebook.

Protip: Facebook ‘likes’ are often more challenging to get and are often lower in number than Twitter follows, but FB users are often more engaged with the project and will connect better with you than Twitter followers. Keep this in mind.

Finally, have some sort of blog or site presence. It simply makes it easy for users to find you and see what you’ve got. It can also be a hub or “base of operations” to lead your entire crowdfunding initiative as you can link everything to it: your crowdfunding project, Facebook, Twitter, trailers, screenshots, news, etc.

Additionally a website adds an air of authenticity when a game developer establishes a serious web presence. Don’t delay on this, a dubious-looking project isn’t helped by a lack of information so make sure that your website has as much info on your game as possible and keep it updated (you can even copy/paste updates from your traditional blog to the updates area of your crowdfunding project!).

And don’t forget to link your site onto your crowdfunding project, twitter, and facebook as well.

Some places like IndieDB.com will help you establish a presence, so be sure to check them out, but the more traditional route would be to get a Blogger or WordPress blog.

Final Thoughts

As I already mentioned, these aren’t fool proof methods to getting your game properly funded. Sometimes you need a bit of luck. Sometimes stuff just doesn’t work out, sometimes it does.

But at the end of the day, the only way you’re ever going to get the money you need is if you put in the work. If you don’t work for something then you’re not going to get the expected results, plain and simple.

As somebody who has worked with game development marketing first hand, as somebody who has been writing every day about indie games and developers since 2009, and as somebody who launched a game-centric crowdfundng website this year (8-Bit Funding) I’ve seen the successes and failures. The successes aren’t successful due to pure luck.

I hope those of you who are considering crowdfunding as a possible way to earn development money will take this article to heart.

If any of you has any questions please feel free to comment here or email me at geoff[at]diygamer.com and I’ll be glad to answer them for you.

[Displaimer: Geoff Gibson owns and operates (with others) 8-Bit Funding, a competing crowdfunding service. While this article is intended to be unbiased, please keep in mind that each service has its own pluses and minuses that you should evaluate before choosing a crowdfunding service.]