American McGee defends Double Fine Kickstarter after adding $100,000 stretch goal to OZombie
For Alice-related film rights.
Alice: Madness Returns developer American McGee has defended fellow Kickstartee Double Fine's push for more funds while adding a new $100,000 stretch goal to his own crowd-funding campaign.
Double Fine yesterday announced that it now planned to raise more money for its Kickstarter success Broken Age by selling the game's first half on Steam Early Access before the project was complete.
McGee has countered gamer ire at Double Fine's decision via his blog, in which he praised the developer's "transparency".
"The games you play cost huge amounts of money to develop and market. Productions are insanely complex, which means there are many places where they can breakdown or fail," McGee wrote last night (thanks, GamesIndustry International). "Outcomes aren't predictable, so that money to fund these things is nearly impossible to come by. Simply put, this sh** is hard.
"Things are going to go sideways and sometimes horribly wrong. Instead of wanting to murder someone when they level with you about these facts, embrace them. The choice is yours - support transparency, honesty and constructive involvement... or don't complain when the industry shrugs and shifts back to a model dominated by monolithic, uncaring publishers."
McGee is currently using Kickstarter to raise funds for OZombie, his dark Wizard of Oz-themed action RPG, and this week added a new $100,000 stretch goal.
The ambitious new target will give McGee enough money to secure the film rights for his Alice game series from current holder Collision Entertainment.
But that deal is time-based: McGee will need to pay another $100,000 each year to hold onto the film rights, or $500,000 to buy them outright. Then there's the costs of the actual films themselves.
It's a very tall order, especially considering the current state of the OZombie project's funds. McGee originally set a $950,000 goal and will need to reach $1.05 million to unlock the Alice film rights. The campaign has raised $125,400 with 10 days gone of its 42 days campaign.