It's less than a week away and the goal is locked in! Every 10 months I host the Indiepocalypse Pledge Drive, an 8 hour livestream with the goal of at the very least breaking even on this whole thing. ('This whole thing' being Indiepocalypse, a monthly anthology of alternative indie games) Along with the drive is a PWYW bundle of the last 10 commissioned games and a chance to win a lifetime subscription to Indiepocalypse for buying said bundle!
Despite the pledge drive/crowdfund presentation, Indiepocalypse does not need to reach this goal to survive. From the first issue I budgeted it as something (barring unforeseen life changes) I could afford to do basically forever. What the pledge drive aims for (outside of the truly outlandish goal of this being a sustainable job) is to give me more space to try new things. The commissioned games, 10 pick lists, bonus issues, and more(?) are all possible because sales mean I lose less money each month and therefore can spend more money paying people to do cool stuff.
The proceeds from the drive are also distributed as sales across all unprofitable issue so it's a great way to ensure devs get at least one payout each year.
THE SCHEDULE
All times are ET and approximate. "play commissioned games" also functions as free space as I need it.
9-9:30 AM Intro
9:30-10 AM Play some commissioned games
10-11 AM Local Scene Showcase Rerun
11-12 AM Play some commissioned games
12-1 PM Wavelength (1967) watchalong with Bianca Delmar
1-2 PM Cass & Andrew Save E3!
2-3 PM Play some commissioned games
3-4PM HEADLESS BLOOD IDOL SHOWCASE with MAGENTA SKULL
4-4:30 PM Play some commissioned games
4:30-5 PM Outro
5:00 PM It's over now
After running my mouth for about 8 hours once again, the livestream kickoff to the Indiepocalypse Pledge Drive is now over. While I never expect to even come close to the break even goal, this is time when I earn the money to make sure each contributor gets royalties at least once a year. (like with regular sales, 80% of the sales from the pledge drive go the contributors) And still the outpouring of support I receive each year is well above what I could ever anticipate.
This also the time when I'm riding my highest and feel most confident that this work has some importance in the indie game space. I think it's important to constantly let in and raise up new voices. I think it's important to have a space where games are not so rigidly defined. I think it's important to pay people for their work.
I posted about this a lot already (maybe just one last time next week if at all?) and I know Indiepocalypse itself coming out monthly is already fairly constant promotion. BUT if you only share or support just one Indiepocalypse thing all year, I would love and appreciate it if this were it.