Everspace

Rockfish's Michael Schade on crowdfunding your game development

The primary objective of this analysis is to outline effective crowdfunding strategies for independent game developers, specifically drawing from the successful Kickstarter campaign for the space shooter Everspace.

• Crowdfunding success requires rigorous pre-campaign preparation and a disciplined adherence to a core product vision rather than diluting the game with excessive features.
• Building an audience before launch is essential; the Everspace team used Steam Greenlight to gather 70,000 votes to validate their concept and refine features like VR support.
• High-quality visual assets, specifically animated GIFs shared on platforms like Imgur, were instrumental in generating millions of views and driving traffic to the campaign.