Fig Finishing Fund announced to help combat Steam Direct’s distribution fees

Crowd-funding and investment platform Fig has announced the Fig Finishing Fund to help developers put the final touches to their games in light of the imminent demise of Steam Greenlight.

Starting from today, Fig is committing up to $500,000 to help developers overcome the final hurdles standing between them and a successful game launch – namely fees required to access publishing platforms such as Valve’s recently announced Steam Direct, and paid marketing to help build fan awareness.

It works like this. For each developer who attracts 1,000 or more backers for a campaign that succeeds on Fig, Fig will guarantee at least $20,000 of Fig Funds from the investment side of the campaign. This money will be sourced from Fig’s network of investors, or Fig itself.

Developers will then be able to use these funds to finish their games, add more language support and help soften the blow of distribution costs.

It’s not yet known how much Valve will charge developers for publishing games on Steam Direct, which does away with Greenlight’s voting system for a purely paid-for publishing structure, but when the publishing giant has suggested that costs might be anywhere between $100 and $5,000, the move has given plenty of developers cause for concern.

Once distribution costs are covered, Fig says any remaining funds can be used to promote the game and help get the word out.

"By giving developers resources they can apply to marketing their titles, developers are free to dedicate more fan-raised money to making their games," Fig’s CEO and founder Justin Bailey said in a statement.

"As always, developers funding their game through Fig will also be able to take advantage of Fig’s co-publishing services to further help market those games."

He added: "This program further aligns us and our community of investors, developers and fans. Investors benefit because this increases the chance that titles they’ve invested in come to market successfully and reach their intended audiences. Fans also benefit when their favorite titles get a better shot at being published.

"We believe strongly in the need for titles not only to be offered on major publishing platforms such as Steam Direct, but also to have funds to conduct the marketing that can be crucial to the success of those games."