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Another Game Fails to Reach Crowdfunding Target

Fig's first failure.

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New crowdfunding platform Fig has seen its first failure. The crowdfunding campaign for Anchors in the Drift, a free-to-play PC game from the maker of Scribblenauts, came up well short of its $500,000 target.

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Fig campaigns are all-or-nothing, so developer 5th Cell will need to secure funding through other means if the studio wants to move forward with the project, Fig CEO Justin Bailey told Polygon.

In Anchors, players would have traveled across a quantum ocean known as the Drift. You'd play as a hero, known as an Anchor, tasked with sailing across the sea and liberating its islands.

Anchors is Fig's second game since the platform's launch in August; the first was Mobius Digital's Outer Wilds. That game's campaign was successful, bringing in more than $800,000.

Fig differs from platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo in that it offers both rewards-based backing as well as equity to accredited investors. More information about the accreditation process is available here. In addition, the platform only supports one game at a time.

"Crowdfunding exists so that creators can take more creative risk than a traditional publisher would let them and get a signal directly from their fans," Bailey told Polygon. "Sometimes the signal is that fans have always wanted this, sometimes for a variety of reasons it does not resonate. This is going to be the outcome sometimes, and that's ok. The market, which is made up of fans, ultimately decides successes and failures."

To get a closer look at what Anchors would have looked like, check out the images in the gallery above. We have followed up with 5th Cell to inquire about whether or not the studio will attempt to raise funds for the project through other means.

Although Anchors is Fig's first failure, it's not the first crowdfunding campaign for a game to come up short. That happens all the the time on Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

Looking ahead, Rock Band developer Harmonix will attempt to raise funds for a new game through Fig. However, no other details--like what the game is or when the campaign will start--are available at this time.

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