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No one is getting rich from exploding kittens

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23 Feb 2016 20:08 - 23 Feb 2016 20:37 #223109 by MacDirk Diggler
I don't get what all the hue and cry in this thread is about. Did you read the initial article from Polygon?

It looks like a guy saw that Exploding kittens was pledged 8M dollars and decided to write an article about where the money went. In it he interviews the a guy who designed it to find out what some of the overhead to produce the game was.

I missed the part where anyone complained that they only made 5 figures. The headline of the article by the author NO ONE IS GETTING RICH... But nowhere in the article does one of the creators complain about what he made.

I guess you want them to apologize for getting 8M in pledges, but I fail to see a crime.

What am I missing?

From the article:
It's a card game for two to five players that has become the most successful gaming Kickstarter of all time, raising $8,782,571 from 219,382 backers.
While around 220,000 individuals backed the game, many purchased multiple decks. Lee told us the production order will be slightly less than one million decks of cards. "The production cost is all in manufacturing," Temkin explained.
All told, Temkin estimates it will cost around $14 to $15 to create and ship each deck. This version of the product, according to Lee, is too expensive to offer on a standard retail basis.

So one million decks times $14 apiece to create = 14 milliion dollars to produce
Yet they only collected 8.7 million
Therefore they are 5.3 million in debt divided by 3 people= each one is almost 1.8 million in the hole!!!!!!!!!
Last edit: 23 Feb 2016 20:37 by MacDirk Diggler.

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23 Feb 2016 21:29 #223114 by Ancient_of_MuMu
The thing that baffles me when I read it was the production run of one million copies vs 220,000 backers. Either they have produced a shit-ton to sell at retail or their backers want about 5 copies each.

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23 Feb 2016 21:33 #223115 by Gary Sax
Well, one thing to think about is that the dude knows the size of his audience from the comic book side, probably merchandise as well.

It does sound like a lot, though...

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23 Feb 2016 21:49 #223116 by jeb

Alastair MacDirk wrote: I don't get what all the hue and cry in this thread is about. Did you read the initial article from Polygon?

Did you?

The Fucking Article wrote: The payout from Exploding Kittens is certainly going to be sizable, but don't fool yourself into thinking anyone is becoming wealthy from this one Kickstarter, especially with three individuals splitting the profit. In a best-case scenario, it's likely everyone involved will make a nice six-figure profit from the Kickstarter campaign, but no one is running to the bank with millions of dollars.

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23 Feb 2016 21:56 #223117 by MacDirk Diggler
Ya. So where in the text you copied is anyone associated with the game complaining about how much they made? Furthermore, the author seems to have no idea how much they made.

They made a game. The demand for it broke a kickstarter record. Some guy on Polygon tried to write an article to explain where the 8.7M went. The numbers aren't even presented in a very factual manner, but is mostly hearsay an supposition.

So I ask again. Why are you mad at the guys who made the game?

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23 Feb 2016 22:46 #223119 by Sagrilarus
Because they're beneath us and they're making more money, and that's just wrong. Where's MY six figure salary for a bullshit game?
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24 Feb 2016 08:52 #223133 by SuperflyPete
$xxxx.xx is a six figure number, and I'd still argue that it's a win! ;)
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24 Feb 2016 08:58 #223135 by Msample

Ancient_of_MuMu wrote: The thing that baffles me when I read it was the production run of one million copies vs 220,000 backers. Either they have produced a shit-ton to sell at retail or their backers want about 5 copies each.


The more units you print, the cheaper it is per unit. With them raising so much money via kickstarter, they probably figured it would be worth printing extra for retail sales and/or more direct sales after the backers spread the word .

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24 Feb 2016 09:29 - 24 Feb 2016 09:42 #223146 by Sagrilarus

Msample wrote: The more units you print, the cheaper it is per unit. With them raising so much money via kickstarter, they probably figured it would be worth printing extra for retail sales and/or more direct sales after the backers spread the word .


Yeah, and the quote above is indicating $15 per deck for printing and delivery to the warehouse. This is on a one million unit print run, so something has already gone very wrong. Apparently comic strip artists don't know how to manage publishing projects . . . who knew?

So this thing is going to be $29.99 MSRP and they likely have 600,000 units inbound. Sounds like Exploding Kittens may potentially be a White Elephant.

Alternate theory is that the numbers they present aren't correct.

Oh, and a pro-tip -- "most successful gaming Kickstarter of all time" isn't determined by the amount of customers gathered or revenue raised. Unless of course you own Kickstarter.
Last edit: 24 Feb 2016 09:42 by Sagrilarus.
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24 Feb 2016 10:04 #223148 by JEM
You can buy either version on Exploding Kittens' Amazon store right now for $20. They also put some daft noise maker in the kickstarter editions of the game; maybe that is where some of the cost explanation comes from, and the retail version is lower cost.

Or the article is half-arsed.

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24 Feb 2016 11:21 - 24 Feb 2016 11:27 #223152 by Msample

Sagrilarus wrote:

Yeah, and the quote above is indicating $15 per deck for printing and delivery to the warehouse. This is on a one million unit print run, so something has already gone very wrong.

Alternate theory is that the numbers they present aren't correct.


My guess is that the numbers are wrong. Or they misplaced a decimal point. A print run that high, there is no way it should cost $15 per deck landed cost.
Last edit: 24 Feb 2016 11:27 by Msample.

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24 Feb 2016 12:33 #223160 by SuperflyPete
Best guess:

Box and cards therein $3.00/box
Freight from China: $0.15/box
Fulfillment: $0.50/box
Shipping to backer: ~$5.00/box

I can't see this being any more than this. There's no way that they got nailed for more than 3$ per box. And that's the Non-NSFW box that meows.

If they didn't make 300K each, they deserve to not have made 300K each.
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24 Feb 2016 12:35 #223161 by charlest
I would guess it was cheaper than $3 a box for the actual production, especially on a million copies. I would think it'd be closer to $1.

You're not including cost of artwork though or advertising or anything, which they may be including.

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24 Feb 2016 13:13 #223165 by Shellhead
I give zero fucks about a shitty-looking Kickstarter filler game making big bucks off the rubes. But I am favorably impressed that these guys are using some of their Exploding Kittens windfall to subsidize the Kitty Convict Project. The goal is to raise awareness of lost cats and make it easier to return them to their owners, with customized orange cat collars.

news.yahoo.com/orange-collar-project-aim...-home-155314406.html

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24 Feb 2016 13:14 #223166 by Cranberries
I've seen it somewhere for $30 a box. The thought of trying to set up a million unit production run in China makes my head hurt, however.

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