GRAND BLANC, MI – Former Grand Blanc resident Mike Gale is looking to meet an ambitious goal in a monthlong effort to finance a video game through the crowd funding website, Kickstarter.
After Gale's Kickstarter fundraising page raised the $60,000 minimum he set, he attracted more than 5,000 backers pledging more than $175,000 toward the project as of Saturday evening, July 13. The campaign started June 15 and runs to July 15 with a goal of $200,000.
Meeting the initial goal of $60,000 meant his dream of creating and developing a video game from scratch – an enduring process that has proven a tireless effort on Gale's end, and that requires a considerable amount of money he initially didn't have – could come true.
Having grown up in the Goodrich and Grand Blanc areas, Gale would help out on his parent's horse farm in Millington. It didn't exactly prove lucrative to his aspirations.
"I wasn't going anywhere with my dream," said Gale, 27, a graduate of Goodrich High School. "It's not very inspiring being on a horse farm."
He set out westward in search of opportunity, making the move to Seattle without a job lined up and his personal savings to live on. After graduating with a business degree in March, Gale got a job with Microsoft as a contractor, but left the position soon after to pursue his dream.
But even with a team of at least 15 others, thousands of dollars of his own money and taking out extra student loans, more was needed.
That's where the decision to start a Kickstarter page came in.
"At the beginning, I didn't think it was possible," Gale said of trying to reach the $60,000 minimum he set a couple weeks after the account was created. "I'm honored by all the support everyone has given me, it's definitely really impressive."
But Gale still has higher expectations in hoping to reach $200,000 by Monday, July 15.
"I don't like being complacent; that's the reason why I broke out of my shell and moved across the country to do this," he said. "If you don't compare yourself to the best, you'll never be the best."
Gale considers the process of developing a video game to be a "gargantuan task," having to oversee animations, cinematography, sound effects, art, writing and programming. A scene in the game -- consisting of three characters and one environment that spans 30 seconds – can span more than a month from start to finish, he said.
"I'm not the type of person who works 40 hours a week on this; I work 60 to 80," he said.
The end result is what Gale called an expression of "creative freedom."
"Any other form of media does not come close to the breadth of the types of media put into video games," he said. "(Video games) offer something completely beyond what a movie can offer you."
Gale's game, to be titled "Soul Saga" with a release date set for summer 2014, is a Japanese Role Playing Game similar to Square Enix's Final Fantasy series made for Sony's Playstation.
Nathan Noll, 26, formerly of Goodrich has been a friend of Gale's since high school, where they attended classes together and competed on the wrestling team. Noll said the two would talk about developing video games while in high school.
"Seeing a friend accomplish something like this gets me extra excited about it," Noll said. "He's made a lot of big sacrifices financially and in terms of time he's dedicated to the project."
Though Noll recognizes Gale's time and work dedicated to the project and the success in surpassing initial funding predictions, he considers seeing a friend's dream turn reality to be more significant.
"The biggest thing is watching him follow his dreams," he said. "I like to see people from the community achieving big things and following their dreams."
Those interested can contribute to Gale's Kickstarter page until 3 a.m. Monday morning, or through PayPal.
A clip from Mike Gale's "Soul Saga." Courtesy.