Skybound Entertainment has announced a crowdfunding campaign in order to develop a AAA video game set in the Invincible universe. The company boasts that they’ll have a 30-person studio consisting of veterans who’ve worked across the video game industry in places like Blizzard, EA, Epic Games, and Activision all dedicated to creating an adaptation of the hit comic turned Prime TV series created by Robert Kirkman.
“We are thrilled to launch this Regulation Crowdfunding campaign on Republic, inviting fans to join us on this new expansion and venture,” said CEO of Skybound Entertainment David Alpert. “At Skybound, we prioritize fostering meaningful connections with our audience, and this initiative allows fans to not only immerse themselves in the world of Invincible but also to directly contribute to its expansion.”
Although crowdfunding is meant to raise funds for indie campaigns, the studio has already surpassed its minimal funding goal of $50,000 having already raised over $500,000. Upper limit expectations for the crowdfund max out at 5 million and there are still a dozen days left to go until the campaign closes. Mind you, Skybound has previously raised $18 million from 6000 everyday fans and venture capitalists using the same strategy. If that wasn’t enough, they also have delivered time and time again on hit video games, including last year’s Invincible Presents: Atom Eve.
As for what you’re getting for your crowdfunded dollars, well, almost all of this investment comes down to whether you or not you believe in not just a Skybound AAA video game, but in the company’s vision for itself! Unlike other types of crowdfunding, the campaign run by Republic Investment won’t land you a copy of the game itself, but rather, is a promise to the buyer to be a part of Skybound’s future as a company.
According to a report by PC Gamer, the minimum contribution amount required for the crowdfunding campaign is set at $100. This investment will grant common individuals indirect access to private equity of Skybound through a method called “Crowd SAFE holding” which is a promise in the form of equity (stock shares) or a cash payout if Skybound ever is bought out, goes public, or sells off all of its assets. Investors will also be bequeathed 10,000 Skybound Insider points to use for their gamified loyalty rewards program which can be spent on digital comics and in-game rewards.
Suffice it to say, all of this is a bit of a strange strategy that I think most would be skeptical about had it not been for the fact that Skybound is home to both The Walking Dead and Invincible, two of the largest comic IPs in the entire world. Revenues for both series go into the billions between its licensing, TV shows, movies, and of course, numerous video game deals.
However, the biggest takeaway making this investment a little different – is that Skybound has been surprisingly open about what they’re trying to achieve including information on their demographics and where they see growth potential.
Surprising data that Skybound has been open to sharing regarding its target audience:
- Invincible attracts a critical, hard to reach audience: Predominantly males under 34 (90/10 Male/Female), these consumers are heavily interested in genre content, which is a key pillar for engagement on streaming services and gaming platforms.
- They are passionate about video games: Our audience identifies as gamers, over-indexing the average audience 4.25x; by 2x in how much they spend on video games vs. anything else; and in the last 6 months spent 2.24x on video games and hardware than the average person.
- Tech savvy, and identify as entertainment junkies, leisure collectors, sports enthusiasts, and comic book readers. They are dedicated, influential, and consumers of a wide variety of products across tech, entertainment, and more.
And some data on Invincible specifically:
- 100% on Rotten Tomatoes; Golden Tomato Award
- #1 on Prime Video in US & UK since launch; #1 in 87 countries
- #1 Most watched animated season 2 series
- Top 10 in 116 countries
- 24.6x more views than the average TV series since 2018
- 3.8B TikTok views from #invincible
- 1.6M mentions on social media
- 99% positive social sentiment
- Season 3 in Production
I’ve written before that the future of comics lies in what other forms it takes on in the future beyond comics sales, as IP farming becomes more and more of a driving force that generates revenue for the industry. We’ve seen this with the Radiant Black Massive-verse for Image comics along with the ever-growing crowdfunding on Kickstarter for new indies. What Skybound has done here is impressive, and if you believe in its future, it makes sense to invest in this potential AAA studio game.
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