In this episode:

Jordan continues his insightful conversation with Lorne Lanning, co-founder of Oddworld Inhabitants and creator of the Oddworld series. Lorne dives deeper into Kickstarter campaigns and the realities of crowdfunding for games. He shares practical advice on gaining visibility, leveraging celebrity influence, and understanding the challenges of raising funds through platforms like Kickstarter. If you're an indie developer or considering crowdfunding for your game, this episode offers essential takeaways on strategy and execution.

Topics covered:

• Strategies for Kickstarter success in game development
• The importance of a unique pitch and understanding your audience
• Lessons from successful and failed Kickstarter projects
• Securing funding and marketing your game idea effectively
• Lorne’s personal experiences and lessons from running crowdfunding campaigns
• How to balance business goals with creative vision
• The future of AR, VR, and other technologies in games

For more game industry tips:

• Learn more about Jordan & Bright Black
• Listen on iTunes | Spotify (Support the show and leave a review)
• Visit www.playmakerspodcast.com for the full blog post and more!

Timestamps:

00:00 Lorne’s experience with Kickstarter successes and failures

04:12 How to stand out and gain visibility on Kickstarter

09:10 The importance of leveraging a social media following for Kickstarter campaigns

13:36 The Kickstarter success of Exploding Kittens

16:56 Advice for game developers building unique game mechanics

22:00 Lorne's thoughts on AR and VR's future in gaming

24:07 Challenges developers face with publishing platforms

30:46 Nintendo's historical publishing policies and their impact

35:04 Final thoughts on maintaining quality and building a long-term fanbase

Resources & media mentioned in this episode:

• Kickstarter
• Exploding Kittens
• Ori and the Blind Forest
• Cuphead
• Limbo
• Inside
• No Man’s Sky
• Pokémon Go
• Stranger's Wrath
• Abe’s Quintology:
• Abe’s Oddysee
• Munch’s Oddysee
• Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty!
• Oddworld: Soulstorm
• Abe’s Exoddus
• Farmville
• Nudge (book by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein)
• An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Built Hollywood (book by Neal Gabler)
• It’s a Wonderful Life (film)