Ask HN: Will a Kickstarter hurt my game's messaging?
Press mentions: https://www.google.com/#q=astroneer Site: http://astroneer.space Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv7xbHkLdGw
We're now in a place, having proven to ourselves that we have an (unfinished) game that people want, that we need a small amount (roughly 100K) to be able to ship in March as a Steam Early Access title. We'd like to bring on at our two remaining team members as full timers, to add to our existing three who can otherwise survive (with very tight belts) until our Early Access ship date. Without the money, we will still ship, but it will be a lower quality game and take a bigger stress toll on us.
The question is, the money raised from a KS aside, how will doing a crowdfunding campaign affect the game's messaging in the long run? We may have an issue where people don't expect a game that plans on Early Access to also do a Kickstarter. But a Kickstarter would in fact make it easier for us to put out a good game, and would save us from the clutches of publishers. What do do?