How Cliffhanger managed to kickstart Shadowrun Online from Europe, what to look after in a kickstarter and some hands on experiences.

1. WWW.CLIFFHANGER-PRODUCTIONS.COM
Crowdfunding – Do’s and Don’ts

2. KICKSTARTER VIDEO

3. • Founded as a production company in 2006
• Own development since 2010, current team size 33
• True cross-platform gaming for mature gamers
• Current projects :
CLIFFHANGER PRODUCTIONS

4. • Campaign from mid-July to mid-August 2012
• Funding goal: USD 500.000
• Reached USD 558.838,-
• Backers: 6002
• Average pledge level: USD 93,-
• Broke many records:
– In Top 15 of most funded video games projects
– Most funded from continental Europe
– Highest average pledge level of all digital games
KICKSTARTER SHADOWRUN

5. - One of the global top 5
role-playing brands
- Sold over 10 million novels
and campaign books
- Four video games and a
trading card game
- First Shadowrun project
received over 1.8 mio USD
on Kickstarter
SHADOWRUN

6. PLATFORMS FOR CREATIVE PROJECTS
Kickstarter Indiegogo
The crowdfunding brand The indie choice
Amazon Payments (Only Credit cards
outside US)
Credit cards, Paypal
Mandatory US Worldwide
All-or-nothing model Get funds without reaching funding
goal
5% go to Kickstarter
5% go to Amazon Payments
4% go to Indiegogo (9% if you don‘t
meet the goal)
3%-5% pay out fees from Paypal and
CC

7. • Anyone from any country can create a project on Kickstarter
• BUT: for Amazon payments you must fulfill the following requirements:
– US bank account, US credit or debit card (we used international credit but US
debit card)
– US citizen at least 18 years old WITH Social Security Number)
(must be the project owner and account owner, but needs NOT be the holder of
the credit card or bank account)
– US phone number for automated verification (get one from skype)
• We created a US company, and found a trustworthy US citizen to provide
SSN
• Some days for Amazon to approve your project, KS usually very quick
• For us this was a 4 months procedure from tax research to launch
KICKSTARTER – FORMAL REQUIREMENTS

8. PREPARATION

9. • Make sure your product fits the audience of the
platform
• KS audience is old-school and slightly older than usual
gaming audience
• Be able to explain your game in one paragraph
maximum - it‘s like a Publisher pitch
• The minimum backers should get is the product (no
free-to-play or freemium)
YOUR PRODUCT

10. • Backers need to trust in your skill and passion to make the product!
• People will only invest into your project after you‘ve invested in it
• How to get this?
– Best if you have a history of successful games (e.g. veteran
designer like Tim Schaefer or Jordan Weisman)
– Great if your team was part of a successful product or you have
a known brand (e.g. Carmageddon or Shadowrun)
– Good if you can get endorsements from well-known industry
figures
– Minimum: Show game footage
GENERAL APPROACH

11. • The video is most important communication tool.
• People don‘t read text and make up their mind really
quickly.
• Only 35% watch the video to the end. Make it short
and get your product in front of them quickly
• Keep it personal, but professional
• Main audience is US American, so have it presented
by an American
THE VIDEO

12. EXAMPLE: PLANETARY ANNIHILATION

13. • Choose wisely: There is no turning back, and no 2nd try
• Incorporate Funding costs:
– 5% Kickstarter commisssion fee
– 5% Amazon payments fee
– 15%-20% swag costs (more units, less $ per unit)
– Picking, packing and shipping
• Release costs:
– Marketing at release
– Distribution costs (e.g. 30% at Steam, iTunes, etc.)
– Your best customers will produce 0 revenue at release
THE FUNDING GOAL

14. • Simple reward structure (the simpler the better)
• Balance digital and physical tiers
• Most popular tiers: $25, $50, $100, $250, $500
• Have pictures of your swag. Show, don‘t tell
• Include $1 tier for people who want to use the
comments
REWARDS

15. GOOD BAD
REWARD STRUCTURE

16. SHOW SWAG

17. • Build a community BEFORE you go on Kickstarter
• Have a Facebook and company/product webpage ready and
polished, a twitter account ready, mention it on your KS page
and in the comments section repeatedly
• Find out the most influential blogs and people on twitter for
your project, and get them excited about the project
beforehand
• Prepare a press mailing list before you go on KS
• Create a proper press release
GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT

18. CAMPAIGN START

19. • Pick the right moment for the launch
• The first and last days of the campaign are most important -
they define the baseline for the others. EVERY major KS
campaign goes down after day 3 the latest.
• Baseline matters: OUYA has ten times our average but shows
the same basic pattern
THE GAP IN THE MIDDLE

20. • Press is great initially, but limited during campaign
• Have exclusive material for the press (24h lead)
• Write something that‘s newsworthy and interesting to
the readers of the magazine / blog. Customize.
• Always have new visuals
• Performance marketing does very little – the entry
barriers (trust, amount of learning required) are too
high for the ‘random’ customer
PRESS & MARKETING

21. • Press and blogs brings them in, proper community work makes
them stay and go for higher pledges
• Give backers special access to background information and
material
• Answer messages and comments 24/7. Sleep when the
campaign is over.
• Listen to your community for new pledge levels and rewards.
• Be thankful and respect your backers. Adapt to their wishes.
They are the ones who make it happen.
COMMUNITY WORK

22. • CONSTANT tweeting and FB actions or you get
drowned versus everyone else
• Create incentives to bring in friends
• Word of mouth trumps anything else – get your
backers to shout out!
• Discovery on Kickstarter is a big part – this gets
people outside your normal reach (Kicktraq!!)
• Use offline/local virality (like flyers)
VIRALITY

23. SHADOWRUN ONLINE FLYER

24. • Prepare, prepare, prepare!
• Have a fitting product and use the right channels
• Design the rewards with your audience in mind
• Get the word out to get people in
• Care about your community to make them stay
• Expect to do NOTHING else during the campaign
SUMMARY

25. THANK YOU!
Questions?

26. Official address:
Seidengasse 32/NB/7
1070 Vienna
Austria
Vienna office:
Stiftgasse 6/2/6
1070 Vienna
Austria
Frankfurt office:
Egenolffstraße 35
60316 Frankfurt/Main
Germany
mailto: office@cliffhanger-productions.com