Clarification 30/01/15 12:27pm:

Kickstarter has contacted Gameplanet to clarify some of the estimates put forward in the ICO Partners report, outlined in the original article below.

Kickstarter pointed out that the author of the ICO Partners report, Thomas Bidaux, was basing his analysis on estimates. Bidaux's estimate of the number of successful video game projects was inaccurate, said Kickstarter. Successful projects in fact rose to 465 in 2014 from 438 in 2013. The discrepancy is in part due to the fact that some video game subcategories, such as mobile games and gaming hardware, were split off from the video game category in 2014.

Kickstarter confirmed that the amount pledged in 2014 to video game projects was in fact down on 2013, "but we view the increase in the number of successful projects as a very healthy sign."

"There were fewer blockbusters, but a healthy mix of really diverse smaller projects," said a representative. "Our mission is to bring creative projects to life — big or small."

Original 30/01/15 10:34am:

New research indicates that our love affair with Kickstarter video game projects is on the wane.

According to ICO Partners, money pledged to video game projects on the crowdfunding platform plummeted from almost US$58 million in 2013 to just over US$25 million in 2014.

Just as funds pledged slumped, the number of video game projects seeking funds increased from 1866 to 2050. The number of successfully funded projects was nevertheless down, from 446 in 2013 to 391 in 2014.

Some of the drop-off can be accounted for by the lack of high profile campaigns, said ICO. In 2013, US$30 million was pledged to campaigns that sought more than US$500,000. In 2014, only US$4 million went to projects of that size.

Mid-tier (US$10,000 - US$50,000) and top-tier 'super projects' (US$500,000+) showed the biggest decrease in support. Success in other funding tiers remained largely static.