Kulea Games is teaming up with conservation-focused nonprofit CPALI to raise funds on Kickstarter for their new mobile game Moth Matching. This is the first time that a game studio has sought to fund the development of a “freemium” game in partnership with a nonprofit using Kickstarter – a model they hope will prove fruitful for financing games for even the smallest nonprofits.
Cost is a key barrier to game development for small nonprofits that have neither the skills nor time to create a mobile game in-house. Paying a freelance developer to program even the simplest apps can easily run upwards of $10,000, and the additional costs of quality graphics, original sound and other fun features can easily double or triple these costs.
The Kickstarter campaign goal of $8,000 does not cover all of the costs for Moth Matching, but will eliminate the need for CPALI to contribute any financing for the game. After players download the game from the App Store for free and play 20 levels, they will have the option of purchasing the remaining 52 levels and any future expansion packs. The partners will then split the game revenue with a portion being used to cover the remaining development costs Kulea Games invested upfront.
A Kickstarter approach offers a lot of benefits for small nonprofits besides helping offset development costs for a quality mobile game like Moth Matching. “It can launch a virtuous circle whereby nonprofits can promote the Kickstarter campaign with help from existing supporters, while the campaign itself will raise awareness of the nonprofit and its mission to new audiences around the world,” notes Kulea Games cofounder Douglas Kolozsvari.
Unlike other developers that offer the finished game as a reward, Kulea Games will thank backers primarily with wild silk products featured in the game and made by CPALI farmers and artisans. All farmed moths and moth host plants are indigenous to Madagascar and alleviate the need to harvest non-sustainably from the forest. Farmers are building a protective barrier forest around one of the most diverse and threatened tropical forests in the world to prevent its overexploitation.
About Kulea Games
Kulea Games is an independent game studio with offices in Palo Alto, California and Lyon, France.
The Moth Matching campaign is open until August 24, 2015 and can be accessed directly on Kickstarter. Co-founder Doug Kolozsvari states, “our motto is ‘Play the Difference,’ and we hope that potential backers will support this innovative way of getting quality games to players so that everyone benefits.”
Source: Press Release
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