Wasteland 2 Kickstarter hits $1.5 million, Kicking it Forward launched
Generous Wasteland 2 backers have helped unlock Linux and Mac releases for the anticipated RPG sequel.
Wasteland 2's Kickstarter crowd funding page has surpassed a $1.5 million target which inXile specified as enough to push out Linux and Mac ports.
InXile has also opened the crowd funding scheme to those without compatible funding sources via a Paypal link on the project's website.
The success of Wasteland 2's funding attempt, along with other recent wins like Double Fine's Adventure and The Banner Saga, has triggered a wave of interested in crowd funding for mid-range and indie developers.
InXile head and Wasteland 2 designer Brian Fargo suggested earlier this week that developers could help each other break free of publishers by "kicking forward" a percentage of profits from games brither by Kickstarter.
In an update posted to backers, Fargo made this scheme official; it now has its own dedicated website, and a unique badge which developers can post to their funding pages to demonstrate their commitment.
"To be abundantly clear, this is only money that the developer earns as profit AFTER the project ships and AFTER they have paid their expenses. This is NOT a suggestion to invest money they received from people who invested into their project via Kickstarter," Fargo wrote.
"Once a project in this program has become profitable, the developer is going to spend this 5% profit, which is their own money, on whatever Kickstarter projects they want to support. They can determine unilaterally who they want to give it to and when. Neither myself nor a committee is going to tell successful developers what projects to invest in.
"Ultimately, this is an honor system at the end of the day. No one is going to audit their books to make sure they complied. In many ways Kickstarter is an honor system too, so this is no different. Of course some unscrupulous developer may not follow through with their promise but I believe the development community sticks together.
"I genuinely believe that a fan funded approach to development combined with a new flow of investment money can change things up quite a bit here. It will be exciting to see how it all plays out."