A new way to support developers with final polish, localization, marketing and fees for platforms like Steam Direct
At Fig, we’re continually looking for opportunities to remove the barriers to entry for developers to unleash their creativity through games. That’s why we’re psyched to announce the Fig Finishing Funds!
As of today, and through the end of the year, Fig is committing up to $500,000 to help developers overcome two hurdles in crossing the finish line to a successful game launch — including fees to access publishing platforms such as Steam Direct and building fan awareness through paid marketing.
Here’s how the Fig Finishing Fund works: for each developer who attracts 1,000 or more backers for a campaign that succeeds on Fig, we will guarantee at least $20,000 of Fig Funds from the investment side of the campaign — sourced from our network of investors or Fig itself. Developers will be able to use these funds to finish their games, support more languages, and defray the costs of distribution — such as the fees that will be charged by Valve’s new Steam Direct program (set to come online this Spring). Valve hasn’t yet determined how much it will charge developers, but it has estimated that fees will range from $100 to as much as $5,000. Investments from the Fig Finishing Fund are intended to help developers cover these costs so they can spend their money on completing their games.
The remainder of the Fig Finishing Fund investment can be used to tackle a second challenge familiar to most independent developers: getting the word out. As digital marketplaces become ever more crowded, it gets harder for game launches to overcome the noise and be discovered. That’s where the Fig Finishing Fund comes in. By giving developers resources they can apply to marketing their titles, developers are free to dedicate more fan-raised money to making their games. As always, developers funding their game through Fig will also be able to take advantage of Fig’s co-publishing services to further help market those games.
At Fig, we don’t make money by running crowdfunding campaigns, but are instead aligned with developers and investors, in that our upside is based on the ultimate commercial performance of the games we help publish — we make money only when games funded through Fig sell well.
This program further aligns us and our community of investors, developers and fans. Investors benefit because this increases the chance that titles they’ve invested in come to market successfully and reach their intended audiences. Fans also benefit when their favorite titles get a better shot at being published.
We believe strongly in the need for titles not only to be offered on major publishing platforms such as Steam Direct, but also to have funds to conduct the marketing that can be crucial to the success of those games.
If you are a developer and are interested in learning more, drop us a line at devs@fig.co. We’d love to talk with you.
— Justin Bailey
