Stormgate, the RTS Steam sensation from former Blizzard devs, is looking for you to invest in the company to help fund the game’s marketing campaign.
Kickstarter campaigns are kind of a dime a dozen these days, though it is a bit rare to find one that’s a big new title from some well-known devs. That doesn’t mean fundraising isn’t still a thing for some devs, though, as Frost Giant Studios actually did so with Stormgate through a very successful Kickstarter – and now it has just announced its crowd-equity campaign for the game on StartEngine. In a press release, Frost Giant explains that this is in order to “funds to support marketing efforts for Stormgate’s upcoming Early Access launch on Steam,” which is definitely a little bit odd, but if the needs must.
Where Kickstarter offers things like physical rewards and the like, StartEngine “invites potential investors to ‘own a piece of Frost Giant’ by investing in the studio, becoming shareholders with a personal stake who can share in the studio’s potential future successes.” Yes, essentially you’ll become a shareholder at StartEngine and can reap some of the financial benefits, assuming the game continues to be successful when it launches.
Frost Giant explained the decision to fundraise on StartEngine by the fact that many “big publishers [are] laying off hundreds of game workers seemingly every day, and making decisions that prioritise near-term profits instead of worker and player happiness… We’re choosing to control our own destiny and self-publish our game in the West with direct support from our player community.”
Stormgate was first announced a couple of years ago, putting you in the position of saving the world from alien invaders in 20-foot tall mechs – a strong pitch, honestly, and it helps that it has some big industry talent behind it. The game went on to become the second most played game during this month’s Steam Next Fest, but its early access release date is yet to be announced.