David Jaffe contemplates Kickstarter funding

Twisted Metal co-creator David Jaffe will consider launching a crowdfunding campaign at his next studio, in the hope he can replicate the show-stopping success of Psychonauts house Double Fine.

Last week Jaffe (pictured) said he will exit his current studio Eat Sleep Play when the group finishes work on the Twisted Metal PS3 project.

Meanwhile, at the same time the San Francisco studio Double Fine launched a Kickstarter campaign with the aim to pool together $400,000 from individual investments as small as a dollar.

Double Fine passed that milestone in an extraordinary eight hours as fans and the industry became gripped by a crowdfunding craze. At the time of going to press, Double Fine has accumulated $1.6 million with 29 days of investment remaining.

Now Jaffe is considering crowdsourced cash for his new independent studio in Sand Diego.

"I think the real question, whether in the next month, if [Double Fine’s campaign] hits $2 million or $8 million, does that signal a new way of funding games?,” Jaffe asked Gamasutra.

“Or is this kind of a one-off thing, because it was led by [Double Fine director] Tim Schafer? Is this actually moving the needle? That, we don’t know."

"Now, with what’s happened with Tim’s Kickstarter, sure, I would consider [crowdfunding]," he said.

"There’s kind of the fear that this would suddenly become, you know, a dick-measuring contest. Schafer comes out and raises a million, and Jaffe only raises $200,000," he laughed.

"But joking aside, I definitely think it’s a really cool thing, so I would consider it. I think I would be really nervous because suddenly now it’s not just a publisher’s money. Suddenly you have all these peoples’ money, and you don’t want to let them down."

Jaffe said he could bankroll his new studio from personal savings, or pitch to traditional publishers his next indie project.