Hello, backers of adventure! Last time we checked in with Double Fine's Kickstarter Adventure Project, they had just hit their target of US$400,000 in only the first 8 hours. Now, at the end of their month-long fundraiser, the total amount raised sits at a whopping US$3,336,371!

Over the course of the month, Double Fine and 2PlayerProductions have been sending out several videos, where Tim Schafer himself, has been keeping the backers updated. With a weekly dose of his beloved humor, he’s been teasing us with more in-depth details of the game, and some of the rewards tiers; some of which include backer-exclusive T-shirts, as well as posters, and art and concept book. Due to the overwhelming amount raised, it was decided that the game would now feature voice acting, and will have the text translated into EFIGS, the world-wide language we’ll all eventually start using! Jokes aside, by EFIGS he means that the game will become available in not just English, but also French, Italian, German, and Spanish. It was also finally confirmed that the game would be released on Mac, PC, Linux, iOS, and certain Android devices.

It seems that backers for this project, all 87,142 of them, have already managed to create a very long credits sequence before even starting production. Over 12,000 people (myself included) contributed $100 or more, earning their name in the credits, as well as an old-school physical copy of the game. Yup, you heard right! “Big box packaging”, just like in the good old days.

During the project’s final hours, Double Fine held their very own celebratory shindig at their HQ, streaming it online, for all the backers to watch and participate in as they counted down the minutes, and seconds. “Holy cow people, I can’t even believe it. I don’t know what to say. Except THANK YOU!! People are mailing in congratulations to us, but I really have to say congratulations to all the backers because you really sent a message around the industry! And you really made your voices heard loud and clear!” exclaimed Schafer in a blog post, after the event. “For now there’s nothing to do but sit back and marvel at what a bunch of regular people can accomplish if they get organized!”

With an accomplishment such as this, how has Kickstarter changed the industry? Has the way games are getting funded changed forever? Since Double Fine’s endeavor into the world of crowd-sourced funding, creative minds are starting to notice, and make good use of the opportunity, resulting in more ambitious projects starting to pop up. Take inXile Entertainment’s Wasteland 2 for example, utilizing the platform to create a direct sequel to the popular PC-title, Wasteland, 14 years after its release. The original Wasteland, developed by Interplay Productions, was a single player Post-apocalyptic role-playing game released in 1998, and is considered to be the single driving inspiration behind the Fallout franchise we’ve all come to know and love.

inXile’s Brian Fargo had originally set a goal of US$900,000, which was quickly surpassed within the first 24 hours. Which is no surprise, seeing as a sequel has been in demand for many years, and with many more failed attempts at getting it funded. With more funding, we can expect to see a vast number of expansions to the game, including larger designed worlds with a more in-depth story, diverse characters, environments and quests. Currently, there is around US$1,432,000 pledged with over 27,000 backers and still 26 more days to go.

While Kickstarter gives many an opportunity to get their ideas funded, it’s also very “easy” to clog the system with poor ideas, projects without promise, and possibly even scammers. The more popular the platform gets, the harder it could be for genuine ideas with real prospects to get noticed. Here’s hoping the system doesn’t end up being abused, however, that is something only time will tell. Though one thing is for certain. With the quick and massive support both these titles have been getting, it’s proven that in this day and age, with a realistic goal in mind, the right audience, planning, and strategy, publishers are no longer a necessity when it comes to funding your games and creative ideas, which allows for cutting out any outsider influence and giving the developer 100% creative freedom and control.

For now, the waiting game begins as we await an update on the next step in Double Fine’s exciting journey. Until then, take a peek at some of the hilarious outtakes and bloopers from their pitch video to keep yourself entertained in the meantime.