If you’re planning on crowdfunding your game, there are several options available to you, however, the choice really comes down to Kickstarter vs Gamefound. Kickstarter is the most established platform and one that most creators use to crowdfund their game, while Gamefound is the new kid on the block, competing for attention.

In this article, we will compare Kickstarter vs Gamefound in a number of different categories, including pricing, features, and others to help you make the best decision when it comes to crowdfunding your game.

History

Kickstarter was founded on April 28, 2009, as a crowdfunding platform meant to help new creators bring their idea to life. Supporters, known as “backers” could pledge money in order to receive a reward, typically a physical or digital version of whatever the creator was making.

While Kickstarter started as a platform for anyone with a dream, it certainly has changed over the years. You no longer see creators put up a simple video with them talking about something that they want to bring to life. Larger companies and more established creators now frequently use the platform and the bar has definitely been raised. You now have to have a market-ready (or nearly ready) product if you want to be successful.

They probably didn’t anticipate this at first, but games have become the biggest category on Kickstarter, with tabletop games as the largest subcategory by far. People flock to the platform to back the latest game, and this has allowed creators to bypass publishers, who have traditionally been the gatekeepers in the industry.

Gamefound was founded by game publisher Awaken Realms in 2016. They had been using Kickstarter as a crowdfunding platform but saw a number of limitations. They also realized that losing 5% of their sales to Kickstarter for their service fee was cutting well into their profits. Gamefound started out as a pledge manager, just one of many companies stepping in to fill a gap left by Kickstarter. They found there was no easy way to charge for shipping and taxes, along with allowing late pledges following their campaigns. So, Awaken Realms created its own solution.

Fast forward ten years, and you will see that Gamefound has now transitioned from being strictly a pledge manager to becoming a full-service crowdfunding platform (and is well-positioned as Kickstarter’s biggest competitor). They started by launching one of their own projects, and slowly opened the door to some larger publishers, while they worked out the kinks. As of March 2022, Gamefound opened its doors to all creators. They also formed a strategic partnership with well-known game publisher Ravensburger, which gives them even more clout.

Obviously, Kickstarter has a long history and track record compared to the relatively new alternative available in Gamefound.

Pricing

When you compare the cost of running a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter vs Gamefound, you will see that their pricing is identical. Both charge 5% as a service fee, along with just over 3% going to their payment partner, Stripe.

Each also includes a built-in pledge manager, which can be used at a similar cost.

When it comes to pricing, Kickstarter and Gamefound are pretty well equal.

Size of audience

Kickstarter has been around for much longer than Gamefound and therefore has a much larger user base. However, Gamefound certainly knew what they were doing when they created their pledge manager for free, which enticed many creators to use their service. This allowed Gamefound to build up a decent-sized audience, and one that is specific to board games alone, compared to Kickstarter, which is a platform that creators can utilize for any creative endeavour.

Gamefound is focused on tabletop games alone, whereas Kickstarter has all sorts of creators and products available. However, comparing Kickstarter vs Gamefound, Kickstarter definitely has a larger overall audience, and users are very comfortable and familiar with their platform, so they have the advantage here.

Features

Kickstarter has been around for a while, but has been criticized in the past for not listening to and implementing feedback from its users very quickly. Things like nested comments and preview pages took quite a while before they were put into place. It took even longer for Kickstarter to add full preview pages and implement its own pledge manager system, but they are now fully in place.

Gamefound has been quick to implement helpful new features for backers and creators alike. Kickstarter on the other hand seems to mostly follow what Gamefound has done, so many of Gamefound’s unique features often end up being available on Kickstarter as well, only at a later time. Kickstarter often lags behind here.

Gamefound also allows free follower gifts, and backer trains, which allow campaigns to continue running after their scheduled end dates if pledges keep coming in. They also have their own advertising tools, AdFound, and Express Crowdfunding for games that are ready to ship at the time of launch.

Kickstarter just added some new features though, like the ability to remove a backer from a project easily. This is a welcome addition for any creators who have had to deal with trolls or problematic behaviour. This is something that Gamefound is missing, but creators I’m sure would love to have.

Overall, I would definitely give Gamefound the edge here for features.

Final thoughts – Kickstarter vs Gamefound

While Kickstarter and Gamefound are similar, each offers its own advantages.

Established creators who already have a large audience may see similar results using either platform. Therefore, Gamefound, with its stronger features may be more attractive to them.

But for smaller, independent creators, the size of Kickstarter’s audience and the relative newness of Gamefound may sway you more towards Kickstarter. They have a much bigger ecosystem, and there’s more chance to get more eyeballs on your game.

It’s also difficult to say whether the crowdfunding platform itself would make a major difference in whether a game gets funded and how well it performs overall. You can’t exactly run the same campaign on both platforms and see which does better. This would definitely confuse backers, and it would also be difficult to know which backers saw the game on both platforms and why they chose one over the other.

Ultimately, it’s your decision which crowdfunding platform you will use and hopefully this article has given you some insights into whether Kickstarter vs Gamefound is the best option for you.

Which platform would you use – Kickstarter or Gamefound?

Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!