Headed up by veteran X-COM designer, Julian Gollop and Gaming Insiders founder, David Kaye, Snapshot Games is the latest developer to get the Fig treatment. After successfully Kickstarting their previous game, Chaos Reborn the team has returned to crowfunding for their newest project, Phoenix Point. The campaign is on track to hit its $500,000 funding goal thanks to Fig backers/investors. Although, some are questioning if the perks of early involvement are worth the risk.
To be fair, as the most highly vetted crowdfunding platform, Fig projects often feel more like preorders than development gambles. Still, the community has come to expect certain perks associated with supporting projects early. Perhaps the most obvious is exclusive content for backers.
The campaign promised special in-game reward items to Fig backers who pledged at the ‘Luxury Digital Edition’($50) tier and above. It wasn’t until a later campaign update that they discovered these rewards were actually part of a DLC pack that everyone would have access to shortly after launch.
Initially, backers assumed the items in question, ‘Alien Living Gun Set’ and ‘Alien Chitin Armor Set’ were to be exclusive to backers. However, the update made clear that the genetically engineered gear would add missions and gameplay elements. Not wanting to lock players out of the additional content, Snapshot explained that the packs would be available 3 months after the base game launches as DLC.
Backers who support the project at the appropriate tiers get access to the gear at release, reportedly at a discount. It’s still a perk, but not exactly the exclusive items they’d expected. The decision has received a mixed reaction in the campaign’s comment section.
The Good, The Bad, The DLC
Some fans bemoaned the lack of pledge incentive now that rewards weren’t backer exclusive. Others lambasted the devs for planning DLC content before the game even launches. A practice the gaming community has become especially wary of in recent years.
Regardless, Phoenix Point still has a strong base of support. Particularly since the gear wasn’t purely cosmetic. Many fans are pleased that they won’t be locked out of the future content regardless of their current pledge level. As one commentator pointed out, there wasn’t really a way for Snapshot to please everyone in this scenario.
The Fig campaign for Phoenix Point still has over a month to go. Since it’s already reached 98% of its funding, expect to see the project hit some stretch goals before all is said and done.
