~40,000 Slacker Backers since the KS

[coffeetable]

In this interview Feargus mentions that PoE has

 

got 100,000, or 120,000 backers now.

which is pretty impressive compared to the ~75,000 that backed via Kickstarter & Paypal originally. At $35 a pop, that means PoE has gained $900k-$1.5m from slacker backers, or equivalently 20%-35% of its Kickstarter budget.

 

This is obviously great news, but If a dev happens across this, is it great news for PoE's budget specifically, or is that money considered profit to be channelled into other projects down the line? If it's the former, was this why extra wilderness areas and characters were being considered over Christmas?

Edited April 15, 2014 by coffeetable

[Walsingham]

In this interview Feargus mentions that PoE has

 

got 100,000, or 120,000 backers now.

which is pretty impressive compared to the ~75,000 that backed via Kickstarter & Paypal originally. At $35 a pop, that means PoE has gained $900k-$1.5m from slacker backers, or equivalently 20%-35% of its Kickstarter budget.

 

This is obviously great news, but If a dev happens across this, is it great news for PoE's budget specifically, or is that money considered profit to be channelled into other projects down the line? If it's the former, was this why extra wilderness areas and characters were being considered over Christmas?

 

Interesting question.

[Mor]

is it great news for PoE's budget specifically, or is that money considered profit to be channelled into other projects down the line?

Realistically its almost certainly the later. While it can help to get them the extra polish they might want for their spotlight project, they aren't likely to make big changes to their plans\deadline this far in development. As far as I am concerned this is great news, it shows that devs can make money doing old school RPGs, money which will fund further projects like the PE expansion, which is IMHO is great because to me the kickstarter was a kick start, not a funding method for every project they'll be working on.

[Forlorn Hope]

Very impressive! My guess is that most of the money will be used to fund the PoE expansion, as Mor already speculated. I might be totally wrong though. It would be interesting to know the specific numbers (how many backers there are as of now).

[JFSOCC]

the slacker backer money is for hookers and blow

[Chaos Theory]

My theory is that the original KS fund request was to do a pet-project of small scale for hardcore RPG fans of old to enjoy.  But... when the campaign exploded and funds kept coming in, Obsidian figured out that there would likely be a strong retail market as well, with more profit likely.  That said, I would be really surprised if Obsidian didn't kick in a few extra dollars-- beyond what was even taken in by the KS campaign--  to do a bigger game that would be marketable to a wider audience while still fulfilling stretch goals, appealing the original backers, etc.  The 'slacker backer' funds, therefore, help recover some of that money and also help pay for their new publisher arrangement, as they obviously need to get paid as well.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Chaos Theory

[Lephys]

It seems inapt to use the word "backer" if at least a portion of the proceeds of slacker "backer" funding doesn't go towards the game. "Backer" implies the direct support of the project in question. Especially with "slacker," since it's saying "a little later than the rest, but still doing the same thing."

[Hassat Hunter]

X-pack funds are still funds for PoE.

 

I think it's too late to use the money now. It would just lead to features being added that weren't pre-planned (with all problems that can give), potential feature creep and seldom does the endproduct justice.

[Pipyui]

^ That doesn't necessarily have to be the case here though.  We know that PoE has A, B, & C priority features and elements; and I imagine a manager usually lays down more Cs than may be reasonably met.  It's possible those slacker funds are still going into polishing up the game, adding more quests, etc - and I'd like to imagine they are.

[Lephys]

X-pack funds are still funds for PoE.

Ahh, yeah. Didn't think of that. Good point.

 

I was just thinking "used on the project" as opposed to completely unrelated projects that Obsidian decides to make later on/separately.