Square Enix's new crowdfunding program opens, Crackdown 2 dev signs up

Square Enix today officially launched its new crowdfunding program called the Square Enix Collective, the Hitman and Tomb Raider publisher announced today. Plans for the program were originally announced in October, and Square Enix has since spent its time building the platform and seeking out teams to work with.

One of these developers is Crackdown 2 studio Ruffian Games, which has launched a campaign through the Square Enix Collective for its new PC title Game of Glens, inspired by Scottish folklore.

The Square Collective allows creators to post ideas and have gamers decide whether those concepts should become a reality or not. If the idea for Game of Glens is approved after 28 days through the feedback platform, it will be eligible for crowdfunding through Indiegogo. Right now, 55 percent of Square Enix Collective users say they would back the project through crowdfunding.

"We know that some people are going to think, 'Hey, you guys have loads of money from all those console games.' Well, we wish it were so, but the reality is it’s incredibly difficult to get a publisher to sign you up to make a game that they actually own, so you can imagine how hard it is to get the funding to develop your own game," Ruffian Games said.

"So due to this funding issue we had been tempted to take the crowdfunding route for Game of Glens for some time, but we were hesitant as the time never felt quite right. Then out of nowhere Square Enix announced Collective for launch and it felt like the perfect timing and fit for Game of Glens."

For more, check out the Game of Glens page on the Square Enix Collective website. Two other campaigns also went live today: World War Machine (Tuque Games) and Moon Hunters (Kitfox Games).

Right now, the Square Enix Collective is limited to those three games, but submissions will be opened to creators at large in the next couple of months. Square Enix will make some of the "older Eidos IP" from the company's back catalog available to creators for new games.