“NEARstudios’ Bold Leap to Kickstarter: A Quest for Innovation in Challenging Times”

It’s been a while since Kickstarter served as the dominant funding source for independent developers. Back in 2012, Double Fine’s Broken Age was such a massive success that it enhanced the fundraising prospects of other games on the platform. However, after a couple of euphoric years (and some frustrating post-funding missteps), the platform lost its effectiveness for developers—especially during a period when venture capital was flooding hundreds of millions of dollars into small to mid-sized studios.

But the funding landscape has drastically changed. Now, Kickstarter is suddenly back in the spotlight. Frogwares achieved its funding target for The Sinking City 2 in under two days. Playable Worlds has raised $550k within just a third of its campaign for Playable Worlds. Additionally, Aesir Interactive, the creators of the Mongolian horse-riding simulator The Legend of Khiimori, has already surpassed the $100k mark just a few days into its campaign.

It might not be life-altering sums—$100k to $500k from two to three thousand backers won’t be enough to buy yachts. However, it is a spark that could ignite a fire. And if there’s one company aiming to strike that spark, it is NEARStudios, the group of former triple-A developers working on the woodland fantasy RPG Hawthorn.

NEARStudios co-founders Heather Cerlan and Jason Richardson are embodying the spirit of the times. They come from the triple-A realm, bootstrapping their dream project, drawing a lot of verbal interest from potential investors but lacking solid financial backing. The team opted to turn to Kickstarter prior to their 2024 studio launch, yet after their announcement gained significant traction (also earning a remarkable 200,000 wishlists on Steam), they recognized Kickstarter was not merely a last-ditch attempt to secure funding—it might actually be the primary avenue to bring Hawthorn to fruition.

Related:New indie, NEARstudios founded by ex Bethesda, Bioware and Naughty Dog developers

Hawthorn resonates with players, but not with investors

Cerlan and Richardson explored various paths to create the game known as Hawthorn. Richardson has been contemplating the idea of a “cozy” co-op game for some time. During his tenure at Funcom, he sought out games he could play with his partner, kids, and friends, but nothing catered to all three groups. Iron Gate Studios’ survival crafting title Valheim was a close match, but it didn’t quite meet his expectations.

Richardson has spent years immersed in the world of multiplayer game design and started brainstorming on a woodland creature co-op game that would suit his family. Meanwhile, Cerlan dreamed of launching her own game studio, focused on creating games that would unite people, and as she and Richardson compared ideas, they discovered they were aligned.

In Hawthorn, players can create characters inspired by various woodland animals, each possessing unique strengths and weaknesses (owls can effortlessly glide, otters thrive in water, mice prefer fields, etc.). The diverse roles allow players with different playstyles to collaborate, and the woodland-themed atmosphere (inspired by works such as Redwall, Watership Down, Beatrix Potter, etc.) is designed to differentiate itself from the conventional survival genre, which often leans toward Fortnite-like edgy characters, pixel art styles, or hardcore bleakness reminiscent of Rust.

Image courtesy of NEARstudios.

The duo discussed how “nostalgia” serves as a central theme for their team, but it indeed feels like nostalgia with a twist. To a woodland creature, corn stalks can seem as large as trees, rivers may appear as vast as lakes, and predators can loom like enormous beasts—building a shelter in the woods may feel like creating a refuge against torrential rain.

It’s a captivating proposal—an individual who resonates with players (Cerlan recounted pitching her game to prospective enthusiasts at TwitchCon and MAGFest, and experiencing relief when their expressions brightened at the concept)—but it never quite resonated with investors. The gap in excitement was puzzling, to say the least. Perhaps it’s because their ensemble of former triple-A professionals was made up of seasoned developers, rather than studio or creative leaders?

Perhaps so, mentioned Cerlan. “We were the individuals on the ground floor, the cogs in the machine,” she said. “I can’t ascertain how significantly that influenced our ability to secure funding, but on the flip side, it was incredibly beneficial because we had a team of people who could dive into the editor and do the work.”

Because they could “do the work,” Richardson stated they opened the door with a more robust gameplay preview than he has observed from other venture-backed studios. “I’ve heard tales from other startups that had funds or vision or executives, but simply lacked gameplay,” he remarked. These studios struggled to discover the “soul” of their games—but as Hawthorn‘s debut demonstrated, NEARstudios seems to have unearthed something that clicks.

The nitty-gritty of transitioning to Kickstarter

Don’t merely take the 200k wishlist statistic as an indicator of existence for Hawthorn. Cerlan recalled the day the video gained momentum, eagerly anticipating the end of the embargo—and feeling a pang of anxiety as only a few outlets covered the story (sorry guys, we needed a few hours). However, stories did circulate throughout the day, and shortly afterwards, videos from content creators followed.

Scan the comments of videos about Hawthorn and you may discover a bubbling enthusiasm for the game’s parallels to Brian Jacques’ Redwall book series (yet no “Eulalia!” in sight…). Here, Cerlan had to admit: she’s never read Redwall, even though it’s an inspiration for other NEARstudios team members like Richardson and community manager Daniel Warren.

Nonetheless, hard work consistently follows days of invigorating player feedback, and for NEARStudios, that effort took the form of expanding what would be included in their Kickstarter. Initially, they had to gauge prevailing interest from publishers. Now that they had secured wishlists and a few thousand views across TikTok, YouTube, and beyond, perhaps they were a more compelling prospect than before?

Perhaps—but the proposals they received didn’t reflect that. Richardson and Cerlan expressed frustration that the publishers who’d reached out presented what appeared to be subpar terms. Nothing offered more stability than Kickstarter would.

Expanding a Kickstarter’s scope isn’t just about updating pitch documents and stretch goals. Marketing plans require fine-tuning, budget tiers need to be established, and perhaps most crucially, the cost of backer rewards must be evaluated. Numerous Kickstarter creators have noted that the revenue generated from a campaign isn’t merely sliced by taxes and the platform’s fees; it’s diminished by how much you spend on backer rewards.

Cerlan mentioned that the studio is currently addressing these challenges, but they come prepared with essential advantages. Firstly, they’ve spent the entirety of development not just building content but also evaluating what kind of game they can produce at various budgets. As experts like Finji CEO Rebekah Saltsman have explained, it’s optimal for developers seeking funding to determine what they can create at different budget levels. “We have a $6 million budget, a $3 million budget, and a $1.5 million budget,” Cerlan elaborated. It becomes a starting point for identifying what the team can accomplish if they meet the campaign’s base target—and then what is feasibly achievable with the ascending stretch goals.

Image courtesy of NEARstudios.

Regarding backer rewards—the duo confessed they need expert guidance here. One NEARstudios employee is a former senior finance manager at Zenimax (the Microsoft-owned parent company of Bethesda Softworks, where Cerlan and Richardson were both previously employed). “That’s our primary concern, ensuring we can deliver what we promise,” Cerlan remarked. “You’re essentially laying out nearly your entire roadmap for the public to see, and that’s daunting because development is challenging.”

And then there’s one final twist with launching on Kickstarter. The upside of Kickstarter is that your players can finance development directly in exchange for pre-ordering the game (and perhaps snagging some bonuses for an additional purchase). For a multiplayer game like Hawthorn, it also helps to have an engaged group of players ready to jump in and create a welcoming environment for newcomers.

The challenge arises when your game is released,you have already received their funds, and not many will be trying to double dip—thus, your initial sales must draw a healthy number of new players, or else you may have cashed in your chips prematurely. “Our aspiration is that this game is sufficiently enticing that, like, Kickstarter will just be a mere drop in the bucket,” stated Cerlan. If the Kickstarter campaign succeeds, NEARstudios will have enough resources to advance Hawthorn into Early Access. If Hawthorn reaches Early Access, the team can promote it at Steam events and attract additional player interest through demos.

If that seems like quite an undertaking between the initial announcement and the Kickstarter launch—it is. Cerlan mentioned that after NEARstudios’ significant public reveal, they opted to seek further investments from family and friends to extend their runway. The saying is unfortunately true: to make money, you have to spend money.

What does a revival of Kickstarter signify for the game development community?

There are potentially dozens—if not hundreds—of small teams like NEARstudios in a similar precarious situation. They set out to create their dream game right as funding opportunities dried up. They pitched, and pitched, and pitched, but received no support or even negative feedback from partners. And now, with time running short, they are exploring funding avenues that allow them to appeal directly to gamers.

It’s a significant risk—but sometimes you have to take the hard six.

NEARstudios’ experience also prompts the industry to contemplate what it means for Kickstarter and other platforms to assist developers in acquiring funding that “they wouldn’t receive from publishers or investors.” In 2012, that notion was as much about logistics as it was about business strategy or taste. By 2025, this concept has become far more evident.

It brings to mind an encounter I observed between an investor and an indie game developer at a DICE Mixer in 2022. “I’m seeking funding,” the indie developer explained.

“Are you creating any blockchain games?” the investor inquired. I wouldn’t even say he was being cynical—he was genuinely soliciting a pitch. Yet for all his enthusiasm, a somber mood enveloped the group.

At this year’s DICE conference, I happened to see that same investor holding a meeting at the Aria Starbucks. The developer he had spoken with three years earlier was also at the event, still on the lookout for funding. Would that conversation yield different results now? Was this investor’s portfolio more diverse, with several small-to-medium-sized investments nestled alongside the AI clutter?

Perhaps—or perhaps not, judging by all the discussions I had with a variety of