Popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter has made a killing in 2014.
Today the website released a ton of statistics, profiling what was no doubt a very successful year for Kickstarter. A grand total of $529 million went towards projects in Kickstarter's fifteen categories, 1,980 of them being successful projects for games.
A total of 22,252 projects were funded in 2014, higher than 2013's final numbers of 19,911. The games category would be the fourth most successful category, behind music, film and video and publishing, respectively. Out of the games category, which includes both tabletop and video games, it is reported that successful projects took in around $89.1 million in backers money, roughly 16.8% of the grand total.
Technology would hoard the lion's share at $125 million backed, roughly 23.6% of the total earned in 2014.
While Kickstarter does not release official numbers on how many projects were made in a given year, on their statistics page we see the "overall" performance of the games category. Games are one of the highest money makers on Kickstarter, with an estimated $259.99 million backed in successful projects. This is impressive, considering only 4,738 game projects have been successfully funded on Kickstarter over the years, while another 9,104 have failed.
Despite a 34% success rate, gaming projects, both video and tabletop, are big money pushers in crowdfunding. Many smaller studios or industry veterans have turned to crowdfunding for financial support. Some of the bigger named projects from 2014 include Thimbleweed Park, a retro-themed point and click adventure title by former Lucasarts alums Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance, a Medieval-themed RPG by Czech developers Warhorse Studio's.
Overall, a very good year for Kickstarter. We shall see if 2015 bears similar results.
