After being asked if he would try to fund a spiritual sequel to cult RPG Nier through Kickstarter, ex-Cavia employee and Nier director and writer Yoko Taro explained his position on crowdfunding.
I knew about Mr Tim Schafer's case. That is brave story but I'm afraid to do that. Because Nier isn't made by only me. I need many people. Producers, designers, programmers, (and also player like you).
May be I need money, team and good timing It's very difficult But I'll try to find that:…)
I promise.
Thanks lot again. And I apologize about my poor English.
Yoko Taro
Link to Yoko Taro's blog (in japanese, but this comment is in english)
EDIT : Siliconera (where Nier fans are gathering right now) made me realized that I might have interpreted Mr. Yoko Taro's words, so I'll switch to a more neutral title and let you understand what you understand.
EDIT2: I see a lot of people saying that crowdfunding a new IP from Yoko Taro is impossible. I disagree, here are a few thoughts on that :
1. Nier looks like a HD PS2 RPG, seriously. Budgets are a well kept secret but I am sure it was very low. 2 million $ (what Tim Shcafer raised in 8 days) was the average budget of a 2005 PS2 game, and by looking at Nier it seems it has a lower budget than PS2 games like .hack/G.U. or Persona 3.
2. Nier sold more Day One than Full Throttle or Psychonauts to my knowledge, and people paid 4 to 6 times more for it.
There is no point in comparing Nier to high budget blockbusters like GTA, Final Fantasy and the like. Budgets are exponential and of course the titles the mainstream media cited are not comparable to mid-budget games like Nier, Atelier, Catherine, Resonance of Fate or even Demon's Souls. In particular, Nier's budget seemed especially low end and I would be very interested in knowing it (perhaps someone could ask the director). I suspect it's lower than some XBLA/PSN titles.
If you take pre-orders and Day One sales achieved by Nier East and West, you have a potential for at least 6 million dollars, obtained with nothing more than a few trailers and stories written by Yoko Taro (Remember, in Japan, people pay 90$ for a HD game on Day One, that's a hell lot more than the 15$ price of a Double Fine Adventure game).
It's just a paradigm shift. If people start funding games on Kickstarter instead of preordering them on amazon and the like, you have the potential for a game even bigger than Nier to happen. Yes, Tim Schafer may be a God in America, but a lot of Japanese developers are Rock stars in their own country. Add to this a strong fan support in the West and that's enough for me.