• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly

2

After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history

3

26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave

1

MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly

2

After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history

3

26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
TechCrowdfunding

Soon everyone will be able to buy equity in video games

By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 18, 2015, 10:00 AM ET
Alex Beachum
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo offer independent game studios the opportunity to get funding directly from interested gamers. But unlike traditional investors, backers don’t receive any kind of equity in the company.

That changes with new startup Fig, the brainchild of game developer Justin Bailey.

Fig, which is backed by Spark (an investor in Oculus, Twitter, and Slack), allows crowdfunding backers the chance to purchase equity for the first time. Equity investment is open to accredited investors now and will be available to unaccredited investors at a later date. (Fig also offers traditional rewards-based crowdfunding.)

Bailey says the game industry is one of the strongest crowdfunding categories, and is responsible for pioneering many of the practices that have evolved crowdfunding as a whole, so it seemed like a natural extension to explore investment-based crowdfunding.

“It seemed to just make sense that you would activate the fan base to help prove there’s interest in the title and also involve investors for the higher amounts of money, rather than just relying solely upon your fans’ excitement,” Bailey says. “Ultimately though, we want to give those fans an opportunity to invest alongside seasoned investors and to share in the financial upside of the games they help make possible—and even though that won’t be in place for the first campaign, I think we’re already very close to that goal becoming a reality.”

 

Fig’s first active campaign is for indie developer Alex Beachum’s Outer Wilds, which is being developed by Mobius Digital, the game studio of Heroes Reborn actor Masi Oka.

With Fig, investors have the ability to pick and choose individual games they believe will succeed in the marketplace, instead of investing in an entire company portfolio such as Electronic Arts or Activision. Given that many of the most successful games in the mobile gaming market today were created by small independent studios, this offers investors the opportunity to be on the ground floor of the next breakout success.

According to Bailey, there’s no proven model to finance games outside of the game studio network like there is with film financing. For the film industry, that model completely changed the landscape and allowed independent filmmakers to create some of the most critically acclaimed films and successful franchises in history.

“The early indicators point to this being a similar inflection point for games, since the established publishers are only investing in existing franchises and genres,” Bailey says. “Almost all the innovative games and genre diversification are coming out with independently financed games, whether the funding be through crowdfunding, studio profits, or investment.”

Joost van Dreunen, CEO of SuperData Research, believes Fig is a smart differentiator because Indiegogo’s share of the total investment dollars that go into game-related projects appears to be stagnant, if not on a decline, and Kickstarter is increasingly centered around celebrity designers.

“Offering a greater degree of ownership may re-incentivize the crowd of people that have gotten turned off, now that its novelty has worn off a bit,” van Dreunen says. “Crowdfunding will continue to play an important role in the games industry, especially now that more consumers are ‘playing with the game’ by modding and creating videos. Committing a few dollars towards a project you like fits well into that mindset.”

Sign up for Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter about the business of technology.

About the Author
By John Gaudiosi
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

OpenAI wants its speaker to feel alive. Apple says it’s a stolen idea
AIOpenAI
OpenAI wants its speaker to feel alive. Apple says it’s a stolen idea
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 15, 2026
35 minutes ago
Murati’s Thinking Machines releases first AI model for broad use
AIMira Murati
Murati’s Thinking Machines releases first AI model for broad use
By Shirin Ghaffary and BloombergJuly 15, 2026
37 minutes ago
Job interview in office
SuccessThe Interview Playbook
Bending Spoons only hired 0.04% from its 800,000 job applications last year—its CEO says its cutthroat hiring process is unlike ‘useless’ interviews
By Emma BurleighJuly 15, 2026
4 hours ago
FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’
C-SuiteFortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry
FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’
By Fortune EditorsJuly 15, 2026
4 hours ago
19 of Cyclops' members stand smiling at the camera from their offices in Vienna, Austria.
CryptoVenture Capital
Exclusive: Cyclops raises $20 million to help payment companies settle faster with stablecoins
By Camila Grigera NaónJuly 15, 2026
6 hours ago
zuck
LawLayoffs
26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
By Barbara Ortutay, Alexandra Olson and The Associated PressJuly 15, 2026
7 hours ago

Most Popular

MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly
Newsletters
MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly
By Sydney LakeJuly 14, 2026
1 day ago
After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history
North America
After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 14, 2026
1 day ago
26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
Law
26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
By Barbara Ortutay, Alexandra Olson and The Associated PressJuly 15, 2026
7 hours ago
Jamie Dimon understands why people are anti-rich: 'We have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind' and 'that's kind of annoying'
Economy
Jamie Dimon understands why people are anti-rich: 'We have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind' and 'that's kind of annoying'
By Eleanor PringleJuly 15, 2026
9 hours ago
Current price of gold as of July 14, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of July 14, 2026
By Danny BakstJuly 14, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, July 14, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 14, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.