American McGee defends Double Fine's bid for additional funding

Alice creator American McGee has taken to his official blog to defend Double Fine's recent attempt to raise more money in the development of its Kickstarter-funded title Broken Age.

In the post, McGee addresses the idea that Double Fine's actions are representative of something more developers may be forced to do in order to complete their games. He adds that his own studio may have to seek additional funding for its upcoming title Ozombie, currently live on Kickstarter.

"Just want to say to all the press, public and others who are gnashing their fangs at Kickstarter, Double Fine and anyone they think look 'fishy,' you can't have it both ways," he wrote.

"You can't complain about big publishers and their bad business models - highlighting all the times they've pushed overpriced, buggy, unfinished product onto the shelves in hopes of a quick buck. Then when an indie developer lays bare their business model and struggles, crucify them for taking risks and being honest.

"In both cases the hyperbole is through the roof and completely unproductive."

Double Fine is currently planning to launch the initial half of its adventure game Broken Age via Steam Early Access in January 2014, founder Tim Schafer announced via the game's Kickstarter page. According to Schafer, the game requires further funding, but rather than return to Kickstarter or asking for the aid of a publisher, the studio will offer the half-version to the public through its Early Access pricing. The second half of the game will then be funded by its first half.

McGee goes on to describe the reaction to Double Fine's actions as an example of the gaming community assuming a greater understanding of the innerworkings of the games industry than it actually has.

"The games you play cost huge amounts of money to develop and market. Productions are insanely complex, which means there are many places where they can breakdown or fail. Outcomes aren't predictable, so that money to fund these things is nearly impossible to come by. Simply put, this shit is hard," he said.

"Things are going to go sideways and sometimes horribly wrong. Instead of wanting to murder someone when they level with you about these facts, embrace them. The choice is yours - support transparency, honesty and constructive involvement... or don't complain when the industry shrugs and shifts back to a model dominated by monolithic, uncaring publishers."