Keep Calm And Discuss Retro Generally!

I'm not sure if this is a problem, but it's certainly a restriction: when it comes to software Kickstarters, familiarity and the 'nostalgia dollar' are overwhelmingly effective tools. The vast majority of the successful gaming Kickstarters have been focused on brands, genres or people that are well established - from Tim Schafer and Obsidian to Wasteland and Broken Sword. This is inevitable - it's easier to sell something recognisable than something new. While genres like RTS, old-school RPGs or point and click adventures may not be as commercially viable as they once were, there's still a sizable yet niche fanbase ready to sustain productions on a smaller scale. That's where Kickstarter has proven most useful - a direct financial relationship between fans and the creators of these niche games. However, this has a side effect of making newer, more unusual Kickstarter projects much harder to get off the ground. Although interestingly in other mediums and even gaming hardware innovative, ambitious projects have enjoyed Kickstarter success - Oculus Rift and Ouya particularly..

For the moment, Kickstarter campaigns seem to be most effective for supporting classic style games (surely with a few exceptions, although certainly few high-profile ones). It's for that reason Kickstarter is probably restricted to a very specific type of project at the moment (and also potentially open to exploitation), but hopefully along the way it will evolve into something where users are more willing to support riskier and original titles. Although it'll take something very special to assure gamers that an untested formula is worth the risk. Until then, 'safe' projects will continue to rule.