Game publishers view Kickstarter as a true launch vehicle, and many allow you to sign on after the campaign has officially ended - and most successful products eventually end up in game stores. Things are different in our new Enlightened Age. Those were dark and lean times, let me tell you. Now in the olden days (I’m talking circa 2017 here), if you missed out on a Kickstarter, the only thing you could do was tear your hair and gnash your teeth, and haunt the aftermarket, hoping to find a reasonably-priced copy on eBay. Mariotte, and Boneyard by Seanan Mcguire (Tor Books, 2015-17 covers by Aaron Riley) The Deadlands novels published alongside the 20th Anniversary Edition: Ghostwalkers by Jonathan Maberry, Deadlands‘ small but loyal fanbase enthusiastically rallied to support the new Kickstarter campaign, and it blew through its $10,000 goal, with 4,973 backers pledging a whopping $568,636.
Emboldened by that success, last year they tried something much more ambitious: Deadlands: the Weird West, a massive box set containing a complete system relaunch using the Savage Worlds core rules. In 2017 Pinnacle stuck a toe in the waters with a reprint of the 1999 edition, Deadlands 20th Anniversary Edition, funded by a crowdfunding campaign. Talk wasn’t enough to keep it alive though, and for long stretches of the last 25 years the game has sadly been unavailable. Created by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group in 1996, the horror/steampunk game was a huge artistic and creative success, easily one of the most talked-about RPGs of the 90s. Kickstarter has brought those systems a whole new lease on life - and an explosion of new content.ĭeadlandsis fine example. I’ve been playing RPGs since 1979, and in all those years I’ve seen countless new and innovative game systems fail because they couldn’t grow beyond a small but dedicated fan base. It’s the de facto launch platform for the hobby gaming industry these days, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon. Kickstarter completely transformed board gaming a decade ago, and over the last few years it has thoroughly reinvigorated role playing as well.
Deadlands: the Weird West (Pinnacle Entertainment Group, April 2021)
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