Divinity: Original Sin 2 Kickstarter launches later this month

cageymaru

cageymaru

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I liked the original. I am surprised, however, that between the crowdfunding and sales of the first they didn't make enough money to fund a second one.
 
Wasn't the first one of the highest-volume sellers of 2014? The devs and publisher must have taken that money and ran. It was on many GOTY lists, in any case (and rightfully so).
 
Games are expensive to make, so why wouldn't they do a kickstarter to offset the costs rather than taking it completely out of the profits of the previous title?
 
LurkerLito said:
Games are expensive to make, so why wouldn't they do a kickstarter to offset the costs rather than taking it completely out of the profits of the previous title?
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I'm not saying they are wrong in what they are doing. I think this is, however, the first time I've seen a previously crowdfunded title become successful from a funding and sales standpoint and subsequently seek crowdfunding for a sequel. Just interesting.
 
I'm sure they think they can do more with crowdfunding. No external support means smaller budget.
 
SilverSliver said:
I'm not saying they are wrong in what they are doing. I think this is, however, the first time I've seen a previously crowdfunded title become successful from a funding and sales standpoint and subsequently seek crowdfunding for a sequel. Just interesting.
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They aren't the first. InXile crowdfunded Torment and Bards Tale IV after Wasteland 2, and Harebrained Schemes crowdfunded Shadowrun: Hong Kong after Shadowrun Returns.

That aside, D:OS was a fucking brilliant game, aside from being a bit too obscure at times and having a pretty inaccessible and shitty crafting system. Will definitely look into backing this one.
 
Blade-Runner said:
They aren't the first. InXile crowdfunded Torment and Bards Tale IV after Wasteland 2, and Harebrained Schemes crowdfunded Shadowrun: Hong Kong after Shadowrun Returns.

That aside, D:OS was a fucking brilliant game, aside from being a bit too obscure at times and having a pretty inaccessible and shitty crafting system. Will definitely look into backing this one.
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Didn't realize that.
 
I was searched for this his a few days ago believe it or not. Then I watched this kooky video from Larian on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXAvcqsPlfQ

I bet they surpass their first goal I'm going to contribute see if I can get my name in the Credits or something.
I didn't know Divinity was such a good game till I picked it up on my vacation and played for 50+ hours this week.
 
SilverSliver said:
I liked the original. I am surprised, however, that between the crowdfunding and sales of the first they didn't make enough money to fund a second one.
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They almost went bankrupt developing the game, even with the help of outside investors, bank loans, delaying tax payments, and crowdfunding (only $944k before fees). The game initially had a planned budget of €3m and ended up spending 4.5m. They didn't even have the ability to do everything they wanted with Dragon Commander due to running out of money. If OS wasn't a success Larian would be dead now.
 
I am not familiar with Larians finances, but I'd imagine that a lot of the sales and success of original sin went to paying back debt from other partners along with previous commitments.

If there was some profit left over, perhaps it was not enough to keep them from having to borrow or farm out chunks of revenue again just yet. The kickstarter route could allow the studio to stay in the black from day 1, and that's a healthier place to be financially.
 
SilverSliver said:
I liked the original. I am surprised, however, that between the crowdfunding and sales of the first they didn't make enough money to fund a second one.
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Why would you use your own money if you can get people to help fund it for you ... ultimately a company has five potential sources of money:

1. Use money they already have ... this is tough since most companies are not like Apple or Google and sitting on large cash reserves ... especially in the software biz, a lot of companies operate hand to mouth

2. Publisher money ... the traditional source of money but this comes with a lot of terms and conditions ... however, for big budget titles this is usually the only source available

3. VC money ... if you have a Venture Capitalist who has invested in your company then you may be able to draw from those cash reserves ... however, VC funding is targeted at taking a company public and that might affect which projects they want you working on

4. Loan ... you can borrow money if you have sufficient collateral but the cost can be high for a big loan (depending on the interest) and the penalty for a failed title could be losing your company

5. Crowd funding ... there are limits on how much money you can get but it is essentially interest free and the only conditions on the money are those you choose to impose on yourself (tiered deliverables and stretch goals)

If the amount of funding you need fits within what you can get from crowd funding it is definitely the lowest risk option ... it also provides direct feedback from your customer base on features that they like or on development choices you are making (which can help you get a stronger title to market)
 
I'm thinking Divinity Original Sin 2 the game is already in production Kickstarter is a good way to back up your game even further while adding new ideas and getting people excited about the game.

Wasn't the Divinity original sin was funded (I just looked on March 27th 2013) so you tell me they made the entire game in a year and a half? It was layed out long before then more power to them though I'm sure the fans don't care either way.
 
LurkerLito said:
Games are expensive to make, so why wouldn't they do a kickstarter to offset the costs rather than taking it completely out of the profits of the previous title?
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Because now companies are just exploiting people's generosity to make an easy buck. They won't see a penny from this sucker.
 
I didn't back the original DOS but I am considering funding the second. I understand both sides, but in the end I definitely prefer it when a company does a kickstarter then can get out of a publisher's control. I support it because KS games generally always want to please the customer so they offer DRM-Free versions on GoG as an option, unlike most publisher funded games which are always DRM locked to steam or worse.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Backed the first, enjoyed it quite a bit, will back a second.
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I backed the first one purely due to your recommendation - never heard of Larian Studios before then. Purchased Divine Divinity while waiting for D:OS. Not disappointed with either purchase and will back the second one as well.
 
It is not about funding this time around it is about fan involvement. They debated on the kickstarter for a while primarily because they did not need the extra funding but 'fans' really wants to be involved so this kickstarter (and early access) are a good method to get them involved and at least with D:OS it greatly improved the game.

Glyphic said:
So the original game didn't do well enough to fund the sequel?
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I love Larian games to death so I will back it for sure, despite not having played OS yet lol (and yes I do own it on GoG :p)
 
I will either back it or buy it after it's released. I loved playing co-op in the first game.
 
How does Co-op work I couldn't figure out the Co-op menu on how to start a game? I see how I could join other people's game just press connect.
 
How does Co-op work I couldn't figure out the Co-op menu on how to start a game? I see how I could join other people's game just press connect.

If you played single player can you co-op later on?
 
Graphics look better. Hell yeah, I can't wait!

I'm about 70 hours into the first one and I think I'm almost finished with the game. Not even close to being bored yet.
 
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Just backed the project this is the 3rd Kickstarter project I backed along with Descent underground and Camelot Unchained. My biggest problem is the wait ;P
It's going to see goal today or later tonight....
 
$850,000+ Stretch goal made which is adding a new skill treee

Hope the project sees 1 million or more they deserve it Larian does they added a new 26.00 dollar category because the 25.00 sold out yesterday and added some new higher categories.
 
Wouldn't surprise me if it is delayed to well into 2017.
 
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