Talk

New York City, NY October 4, 2014
Crowdfunding to Break the Ethnic/Gender Status Quo

Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter have been a big boon to allowing creators who wanted to work around the publisher system to get projects off the ground. We have seen the resurgence of old, beloved and once dormant series', and the return to creating games in genres that were long thought dead. But there was a problem initially that even in this new space, there was a lack of ethnic, racial and gender diversity in the makeup of creators and the protagonists of a large swath of games that were funded. In the last year, however, several key projects have been funded on Kickstarter that have shown that Kickstarter can really be a path toward helping diverse voices get their projects made. From fan favorites like Shantae, to the unknown Catacomb Kids and the recent new project Sunset by renowned developer Tale of Tales, this talk will analyze a few projects that have helped push the needle and shown that under represented voices can find success in the crowdfunding sphere and why that is so valuable.

Tweets

Sketchnotes of Shawn Allen

Sketchnotes of Shawn by Angela Wyman, printed with permission

@nuchallenger

SHAWN ALEXANDER ALLEN

Kickstarter Games

  • Catacomb Kids
  • These French Fries Are Terrible Hot Dogs
  • Gaymer Con [GaymerX/GX] - LGBT Focused Game Convention
  • Moon Hunters
  • Pumpkin Online

Market to Status Quo

  • Mighty No 9, Mighty No. Nope: The Dina Disaster