While the big Kickstarter bubble might be a thing of the past, there are plenty of videogames taking their pitches straight to the fans via the crowdfunding platform. The most successful of these in 2020 was RPG games' original developers.
It probably shouldn't be a surprise to see Eiyuden Chronicle come out as the top Kickstarter game of the year – after all, it's the third-biggest Kickstarter game of all time. But Polygon's breakdown of Kickstarter's biggest games this year provides a solid look at what the state of gaming on the platform looks like.
Eiyuden Chronicle is one of only four titles to make over $1 million USD on the platform. Eiyuden brought in $4.6 million, The Wonderful 101: Remastered earned $2.3 million, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous earned $2.1 million, and The Messenger spin-off Sea of Stars brought in $1.26 million.
The numbers on tabletop Kickstarters are substantially higher, though. Frosthaven brought in nearly $13 million at the top of the charts, and every game in the top ten managed at least $3 million.
Tabletop games brought in a total of $233.8 million, compared with $22.9 million for videogames. Tabletop games have continued growing on the platform over the years, while videogames have remained mostly flat. After a $41.5 million peak in 2015, videogame Kickstarters had not exceeded an annual total of $17.6 million up until this year. (Thanks, Mighty No. 9.)