BrightLocker hopes to change the development game. The startup, which is led by an executive team with experience from major game companies such as Electronic Arts, Blizzard, Sony, and BioWare, has introduced the concept of “crowdpublishing” to the game industry.
The company has launched a platform for gamers to imagine new games, pick which should be made, invest in these games, and then earn rewards, achievements and cash from playing them. BrightLocker has already launched its first game, the iOS title LightEaters.
BrightLocker CEO, Ruben Cortez, explains how his company differs from Fig, Gambitious, and other entrants in the crowdfunding market and what impact it could have on the video game industry.
How does BrightLocker differ from Fig, Gambitious, and other companies in this space?
Fig and Gambitious are simply crowdfunding platforms for games. BrightLocker goes well beyond this, encouraging gamers not just to fund development, but to be instrumental in the creation and selection of games to be developed, and to earn rewards and cash once games are launched. For the first time ever, gamers have an opportunity to earn a share of revenue from game ideas they themselves generate and our community helps fund. BrightLocker provides the professional game development resources to make the games our community wants to see made.
What’s the difference between crowdfunding and crowdpublishing?
Existing crowdfunding simply asks participants to provide cash in exchange for an end product that may never happen. Crowdpublishing instead encourages gamer involvement across the whole process, from submitting original concepts and selecting which get made through to the actual development and launch. Unlike other game-funding services, BrightLocker directly uses professional development teams, so gamers know funded games will get made.
What opportunities are you providing for investors?
The original game creator is rewarded with a share of revenue. Funding participants receive rewards they can use across the platform and for game unlocks. We have plans to expand participant rewards beyond just digital and physical goods and experiences, to possibly include financial rewards. BrightLocker will announce more details about equity investment opportunities in the future.
What opportunities are there for gamers?
Gamers have an opportunity to see their game created by a professional development team and published for all the world to play. Best of all, we pay the original game creator a royalty out of all revenue generated from game sales, including in-game transactions. There is no cap on the amount of revenue share a creator can earn. The better the game sales, the more the idea creator can make. The creator also gets credit in the game and on the platform for being the creator of the game.
What kind of structure is there, and what exactly are people “owning” through this business model?
Gamers own a continued share of revenue for both first-party and third-party distribution rights. Gamers who submit game ideas, yet don’t win, retain all rights to their game, including any professional services purchased.
At this time, we are not announcing details of our equity crowdfunding plans, but will release those in coming months.
How does this operate around the JOBS Act framework?
Reg A+ of the JOBS Act means that “non-accredited” investors can join in and potentially receive financial benefits from equity investments made into companies. This is certainly a development we welcome. With this in mind, we do have plans to include our own opportunities for gamers and other investors to investment in games. We will outline this in future releases.
Can you detail the first game that’s gone through this process?
LightEaters was created as an internal project designed to help us prove concepts we had created on how to truly innovate the crowdfunding-player experience. We eventually realized we had a fun game and extended our production to fully polish the game for distribution. We built the game using the same principles we will use to crowdpublish games once we are live. LightEaters gives players a glimpse of the integration plans we have for future games.
Why did you choose this title for this model?
LightEaters was selected as a game of sufficient scope to test our game pipeline and platform integration. While we do intend to offer cross-platform games in the future, iOS offered a short enough development timeline to complete our platform integration quickly. And also because it’s a fun title we think gamers will enjoy.
What are you looking for when it comes to additional games to fund?
BrightLocker’s unique crowd selection process allows gamers to vote on which game ideas they want to see created by our professional development teams. So gamers will help us choose those games they would most like to play. Additionally, BrightLocker is considering and will continue to consider established video game IP to be placed on the platform for funding and development as well.
How are you connecting with gamers and investors once there is an opportunity?
Gamer communication happens exclusively through the platform and our social media channels. We’ve built the platform to provide gamers with a rich experience throughout the whole game creation process, as well as through the playing of our games. When we offer equity investing opportunities, the platform will help facilitate investor communication and those investment transactions as well.
