Lab Zero Games, formerly Reverge Labs who developed Skullgirls, hosted a crowdfunding campaign for a DLC character, Squigly, who was half-finished when their studio shuttered. By the end of the campaign, 15,881 people (suckers) donated $829,827, five and a half times the $150,000 that they were asking. The goal was the absolute minimum it would cost to finish and release Squigly, but their cup ran over many times what they imagined was possible. For reaching the highest height of goals, Skullgirls is now getting five DLC characters for free, regardless if you donated or not. These include Big Band, Squigly, Robo Fortune, and two others, which campaign patrons choose from this list. Why was this campaign so successful where others flounder and die? Here’s my thoughts…in a convenient list!
Squigly, one of the upcoming DLC characters. Isn’t she precious?!
1. A Tragic Origin Story. The long-short Skullgirls’ history is Reverge Labs released Skullgirls just about a year ago, but were laid off not long after launch. Some speculate that it was tied to legal troubles relating to an earlier game, but the important part is the firing. Instead of moving on and letting Skullgirls slowly rot and decay from lack of updates, the staff came together and forged Lab Zero Games for the sake of supporting Skullgirls.
How can someone say “no” to a team of people that cares so much about the game, that even after being fired they want to keep the community and game alive? These dedicated developers wanted to see their baby grow and blossom. They cared more about doing their fans right than the easy thing, finding new jobs. Overcoming adversity for a good cause? Sounds like Oscar-bait, to me.
2. A Humble Proposal. When you’re asking investors for money, it’s all about the presentation. If you come off too aggressive, you could look entitled. If you don’t prove you can do good work, it’ll look like you’ll blow it on booze. If you don’t make it immediate or important enough, people won’t bother. Lab Zero Games and their campaign managed to hit all these beats having proven they are great developers, presenting themselves as needing the money, but also not expecting to get it.
By following the formula, LZG looked positively humble, like those bundles that are all the rage. As such, people saw the campaign and thought of all the joy they could bring fans, and all the people at LZG who loved this project, and were shot down before their game had a chance to truly shine.
3. Fans of the Genre. Every community likes to imagine theirs is best, that their cute corner of the internet is somehow special. The timeline for most communities is a swell at launch, and then a slow deflation, until finally reaching the perfect equilibrium for their clique. Maybe it’s how cute it is, or how much attention went to the details, but something about the Skullgirls fandom has the air of being more snowflake-unique than other sects of fighters. Even after nearly a year after launch, long enough for most MMOs to be on their last legs, SG raised $78,760 for breast cancer research to get their game into the main lineup for EVO 2013.
They didn’t win, but came second only to Super Smash Brothers Melee, a title that’s been around for over a decade. For a downloadable game that’s less than a year old to come even second to such a goliath shows that even before their IndieGoGo campaign, Skullgirls fans have some sort of X-Factor, and not the one from Marvel VS Capcom 3. Of course, being a fantastic game probably has a lot to do with the community love.
4. Cute girls, girls, girls. No, I’m not going to say “sex sells” and be done with it. The cast is relatively small, especially compared to the likes of Street Fighter or Tekken. Those fighters have dozens of playable characters, but Skullgirls offers only eight, yet each is unique enough that you could tell who’s who based solely on their silhouette, much like Team Fortress 2, or Pokemon.
Plus, the internet is crazy for cute girls and loves to draw cute girls. A quick search on Tumlbr or DeviantArt turns up thousands of results (many NSFW) going all the way back to 2006. When combined with the next entry, you get a series of characters that make for an effective marketing campaign…because sex sells.
Just some of the fan art from the EVO Drive. Image credit to =rtil
5. Grassroots in your grassroots. Tying to the previous entry, sex does indeed sell. But, you need someone to actually push your product. In Skullgirls’ case, the people selling the game’s hotness has often been the fans themselves. The nature of the IndieGoGo campaign is already reliant on grassroots and word-of-mouth, so when you mix these up in the perfect milkshake, what’s the final flavor?
Just the right blend of fans churning out free marketing, and a campaign that keeps a great game going. The fans make the art, spread the word, and do most of the legwork for the campaigners. Once funded, the fans campaign even harder for their favorite concept character to win the elections. It’s a strategy that keeps on giving, and one the fans are happy to be a part of.
More than anything, the campaign was successful because Skullgirls is great, and Lab Zero Games are some talented people with the coolest fans. And really, the only reason I wrote this article was to tell you all to vote Minette!
