Conclusion

The current concerns about the involvement of big money in crowdfunding seem to stem from a matter of perspective—both on the side of developers and on the side of consumers. The trouble seems to start whenever one side or the other begins to perceive crowdfunding as equivalent to charity. To refresh, "charity" implies that backers are simply handing over their money to a cause that they believe in, all for the sole purpose of helping someone else—whether that cause be eradicating Ebola or manufacturing a watch that can adjust your thermostat.

When a large company like Sony or Warner Brothers tries to downplay their involvement in a Kickstarter campaign, it's because they still think of crowdfunding as charity and, perhaps out of pure reflex, act ashamed for being the recipient of donations. When a small-time Kickstarter developer shouts "UNFAIR!" because a larger competitor is offering the same product as them for a lower cost using the same platform, they are only doing so because they are also thinking of Kickstarter as a charity. They forget that the consumer has the right to give their money to whomever they choose, and if Activision is promising the same thing as Two Guys, a Girl, and a Joystick Inc. for half the price, there is no reason that Activision shouldn't get that sale.

This reiterates the Golden Rule. Kickstarter is a means for great ideas to compete against established norms—great ideas, not great businesses. If you are a small business and you have a truly revolutionary idea, Kickstarter is a way to get that idea out into the world and allow the public to choose and then grant (or deny) the idea life. If, however, you are a small business and you are pushing a—how do you say?—tried-and-true idea in hopes of getting a foothold in a competitive market, crowdfunding is not the option for you or your business, and it will tell you as such (hence why only about a third of video-game Kickstarters are successful). The public knows what's new, what's tired, what they want, what they already have, and what they'll never need―but the same consequences are in effect when large developers resort to crowdfunding. If a business—no matter the size—wants consumers to give them money based only on the fantasy of how successful they might be, they really are better off creating a charity, because crowdfunding will get them nowhere.

Also, when a consumer worries that a company will use Kickstarter for the sole purpose of advertising or free market testing, it's because they forget that crowdfunding―as oppose to charity―requires that the fundee give something to the funder. When someone exclaims, "Why should I give my money to a company that already has tens of millions of dollars in investments?", they do so because they forget that they aren't giving anyone anything. Since crowdfunding is not a charity, you are always trading your money for a reward, whether that be a discount on the final product or a glow-in-the-dark T-shirt.

As a consumer, you should hope that any business will turn to crowdfunding because that means you are helping to sculpt the product you are paying for, but it also means that you need to be fully aware that you are taking part ownership in both the rewards and the consequences of the project. Charities rely on donors; crowdfunds rely on loaners, and that's exactly what you are doing when you participate in crowdfunding: you are loaning your money to a cause today for something in return tomorrow...hopefully. It is an investment, and at the center of every investment is a risk. But investors always have a choice; they don't have to take the risk, and this ensures that only the risks worth taking are...taken.

So, next time you've got twenty dollars to drop on a Kickstarter, don't think of it as supporting a cause or even as paying for a product or a reward—think of it as a way of communicating with an increasingly astronmical market that is getting further and further out of touch with the people back on Earth. Crowdfunding may indeed be the democratic element that is missing in the world of big video games, but, like with real democracy, it only works if people trust it. While it does technically allow for others to take advantage of the system, this will only happen if the people allow it to, and if gamers are as critical, smart, and scrutinizing in the future as they are now, this bleak forecast of gaming will never come to be—at least not because of crowdfunding. As the President of the United States once said about Kickstarter: "There is nothing wrong with crowdfunding that can't be fixed by what is right with crowdfunding!"** [nd]

**This quote is furnished by West Games, who keep the original statement locked in a safe along with their letter from Mr. Putin and their two gold bricks from Oprah.