Square Enix has announced it's partnering with Indiegogo to create a new crowdfunding platform called called Collective , to help developers turn their pitches into games. According to Collective's site, indie developers can pitch their ideas to the Square Enix community. If, after 28 days, the pitch earns enough votes from the community, Square Enix will evaluate the project and decide if it's good enough for a page on Indiegogo.
Square Enix also says it's willing to allow outside developers some use of the older, back catalog Eidos IPs in projects, though it fails to mention which properties it considers “back catalog,” but said it'll have more information about the Collective as a whole at GDC Next , which starts Nov. 5 in Los Angeles.
Collective sounds like a neat idea on paper, though there are still some burning questions that need to be answered. Specifically, how much control will developers have over their project if it's funded through Collective? The program's site barely touches on this, saying developers will need to “accept some terms and conditions” without elaborating on what those term and conditions are.
The other big question is how Square Enix's partnership with Indiegogo helps developers. Why should a developer go through Collective's month-long process just to get a game on Indiegogo when that developer could just submit their own Indiegogo campaign? Also, what happens if a project isn't fully-funded but gets, say, 80 percent of the way there? I'm all for helping indie developers bring their ideas into reality, but Square Enix needs to better explain how Collective will do that. Hopefully the company can do that in November.
