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Seven years ago, a political board game, Politics of India, raised slightly over Rs 18,000 in crowdfunding. The crowdfunded game gold rush had just taken off globally. The Bengaluru-based creator shipped 50 boxes to those who had funded the project and it was considered a success. Cut to 2020, Shasn, another political board game, has raised over Rs 2.5 crore on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, the highest ever by an Indian game project.
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The idea of crowdfunding games - essentially asking strangers for money to finish dream projects - began after the controversial success of Double Fine, which raised $3.3 million on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in about a month in 2012. In a crowdfunded game, backers or supporters chip in for development and, in return, get a copy of the game and creative incremental benefits - early access, name in the credits, name within the game, lunch with the creator, and so on. And after years of more misses than hits, the Indian gaming community is coming into its own with crowdfunding. It's a huge space - in 2019, gaming projects raised over $200 million (about Rs 1,500 crore) on Kickstarter.
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"Outside Kickstarter, we have raised around $600,000 (around Rs 4.5 crore), which is leaps and bounds ahead of any campaign that has happened in India," Zain...