Should Established Publishers be Crowd-Funding Their Games?

A few weeks ago we told you that Hans im Gluck is preparing to crowd fund the latest edition of Saint Petersburg. Firestone and I (Jeremiah) have recently had some discussions about whether or not it's right, or a misuse of the crowd funding tools, for well-established publishers to bring new titles--or special edition/big box versions of classic titles--into the marketplace via crowd-funding sites such as Kickstarter. 

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Hans im Gluck is giving fans the opportunity to cast votes for their favorite gaming industry personalities, designers, artists, developers, and---ahem--bloggers, whose likeness will be used for eight cards in the game. Fans have also already cast their votes for the new edition's box color--teal. And the campaign will go live on March 21, 2014.

But the real question is: should it? According to Hans im Gluck, the fans have been clamoring for this, but where do you land on the topic of large publishers crowd funding? Is crowd funding for everyone? Should the "big boys" stay away and let "the least of these" scrap it out? What's the difference between Kickstarting a game and having a preorder system? Does it make any difference how they fund the game, as long as it gets on the shelves? Let us know what you think in the comments below, and/or by taking our survey!

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

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St. Petersburg is Getting a Reprint

PetersburgCoverWell...maybe. The game company Hans im Gluck has announced that, thanks to numerous requests from gamers, they'll be crowd-funding a new edition of St. Petersburg.

The company is going the crowd-funding route because they're still now sure how popular the reprint will be. If enough people show interest, it'll happen. If it fizzles, it'll stay OOP--and prices for the original will likely get a boost.

According to the announcement, the new edition will include:

  • A whole new phase (color) with private deck.
  • Options for a 5th player.
  • A graphical redesign.
  • An updated rulebook.
  • Additional modules.

It's scheduled to go live in March, on a German crowd-funding site.