Hi folks. I’m Colin Sandel, probably known around here as the guy who does horror collaborations with cvaneseltine.
Inspired in part by threads here, in part by my indie dev friends, and in part by me being laid off from my job in the AAA video games industry, I’ve created a Patreon page for myself:
http://www.patreon.com/colinsandel
Effectively Patreon is a way to ‘subscribe’ to a content creator whose work you enjoy. You pay an amount as little as a dollar to them every time they produce a work, though you can cap your per-month contributions if you worry that they’ll be too prolific.
If you like the work I’ve done to date (there are links to some of my stuff on the page) and you’re willing to contribute or signal boost for me on social media stuff, that’d be awesome.
I posted this primarily to get the word out that I’m trying to focus more thoroughly on creating games, both IF and otherwise, but if people would like to use this space to discuss this monetization model, I’ll happily engage.
Carolyn has pointed out to me that I should point something out:
Part of the reason that I chose Patreon is because it is a way to build and maintain momentum in creating free works. The things I produce through Patreon will be available to the general public, though some of my pledges will get to see or influence early betas.
I believe in keeping art cheap or free as much as possible, and this crowdfunding model does a good job of helping support that.
Just curious – what games have you worked on in the AAA industry? I’m a fan of quite a few AAA games.
I was a filter tester and liaison for all three Dance Central games. I was doing narrative consultation for an unreleased project but then priorities shifted and I got laid off.
It’s awesome that something like Patreon exists. It seems like good motivation from all sides. Also, nice job already having a few sponsors.
I’m one of those people who like Kickstarter in theory but then don’t follow up in practice and then am upset I missed out on cool stuff like Wasteland 2. Nevertheless, I hope it works well, and I like the model because it looks like you’re allowing people access to the beta, so they can directly influence the quality of what they are paying for. It seems like a (I cringe at the phrase) win-win.
I’m curious how much of what I pay would go to the developer, though. I might not be able to donate much, and I wasn’t able to find what sort of service fees Patreon charges for donations.
Part of me doesn’t want to heap the sorts of betas I churn out on a tester who’s already paying, because I make some crazy mistakes (plus I’m fortunate enough not to need the money–well, at the moment, cross my fingers,) but yeah, the model seems good.
According to the Patreon FAQ, approximately 3% goes to the credit card processor, and 5% goes to Patreon, with the rest going to the artist.
(Disclaimer - I have not tried Patreon as either creator or patron, but your question piqued my curiosity).