Kickstarter in 2025 and before
The "golden era" for the platform, at least based on the current data, is passed.
The report was prepared by Dmitrii Filatov, Co-Founder & CEO of Narwhal.ax. It’s based on data from 17,000 campaigns in the Video Games category since 2009.
In total, video game projects on Kickstarter have raised $377 million across 5,526 campaigns - an average of $68.2K per campaign.
Dmitrii notes that the golden age of crowdfunding on the platform is long gone. In 2012–2013, games raised $98 million - 26% of the all-time total. Between 2012 and 2015, 19 of the top 30 most successful video game campaigns took place.
By the end of 2024, games raised $25.2 million in total funding. At the peak in 2013, that figure reached $51 million.
Competition hasn’t eased, however. In 2015, there were 1,366 campaigns totaling $43.8 million; in 2024, $25.2 million was spread across 1,335 campaigns. In other words, the number of campaigns dropped by just 2%, while total funding fell 43%.
None of the 15 campaigns aiming to raise $2.5 million or more was successful. However, projects with targets under $1M tended to overperform - for example, Shenmue 3 ($6.3M raised, $2M goal), Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night ($5.5M raised, $500K goal), and Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes ($4.5M raised, $500K goal).
81.8% of all funds raised came from campaigns with goals of $500K or less, and 68.1% from campaigns under $250K.
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PlayWay is the most successful publisher on the platform. It has launched 32 campaigns, 31 of which were successful (the only failure occurred in 2014), raising a total of $889K.
Statistically, December is the worst month to launch a campaign (success rate - 28%), while February is the best (35%). The overall average success rate is 32%.
Japanese companies are the most successful on Kickstarter, with 58% of their 148 campaigns funded. Singapore follows with 48% success across 61 campaigns.
Projects from the U.S. have raised the most money - 67% of all funds. U.S. campaigns account for 55% of total launches. Among the top 30 campaigns, 80% (23 games) are American, followed by 4 from the U.K. and 3 from Japan.