Cliff Bleszinski Invests in Fig crowdfunding platform

Bleszinski joins Brian Fargo, Feargus Urquhart, and other esteemed developers in the by-gamers-for-gamers platform.

1

Gears of War and LawBreakers creator Cliff Bleszinski knows about Kickstarter. What developer doesn't? But "kickstarting" projects just doesn't do it for him. "I asked myself — if I put in a good chunk of money in Kickstarter, shouldn't I get more than like a mug?” he said in an interview with Forbes. “It’s the classic example of vote with your dollars by way of investing.

Fig, a crowdfunding platform dedicated to games, is more to Bleszinski's liking. So he invested in it, according to a new blog post. "We are super excited to welcome Cliff, a believer that Fig can help game makers find passionate supporters for their projects while retaining creative control," wrote Fig CEO and founder Justin Bailey.

Bleszinski's level of involvement was not disclosed.

Fig's notion of rewarding backers with traditional rewards—like, say, coffee mugs—or equity by investing appealed to Bleszinski, as did the platform's decision to more closely curate games that go up for funding. Not every project crosses the finish line, as evidenced by Harmonix's failed attempt to crowdfund a PC port of Rock Band 4. But keeping an eye on each project will help Fig ensure that project creators can't raise hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) and abscond with it.

On his blog, Bailey notes that the LawBreakers developer came on board Fig at just the right time. Tomorrow, May 11, the campaign for Consortium: The Tower will official become a success, exceeding its goal of $300,000 in under a week. Consortium is a first-person simulation set within Churchill Tower, a bastion located in London in the year 2042.

"Acting as Consortium Officer Bishop Six players re tasked with a hostage-rescue mission that quickly becomes something much more," according to Bailey. "Players can choose to fight, sneak, explore, or talk their way through an interactive story driven by their own actions and decisions."

Each action players take will carry over to subsequent installments of Consortium's planned trilogy.

"As the only funding platform created by gamers for gamers that offers rewards and investment based funding, we are grateful for our investors and advisors who are leaders in the industry," Bailey concluded. "Amazing to have you be a part of the Fig family, Cliff!"

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.

Filed Under
From The Chatty
Hello, Meet Lola