Regardless of how people see it Kickstarter and crowdfunding in general is a great asset for companies, yes it can be used in a bad way, but this is true for most things, true is even for established companies crowdfunding gives the ability to create projects they would not do for a commercial brick and mortar shop release for various reasons.
Meanwhile on the other side : https://home.privateerpress.com/2022/02/22/riot-quest-board-game-coming-soon-to-kickstarter/
This is not about gatekeeping. It is specialisation. There are enough publishers out there to get the right one for your needs. Correct. It is used for funding projects without risk. And if prices increase the risk is on the consumer side (see shipping costs recently and kickstarters who requested additional funds from their backers). But funding was different many years ago. People showed prototypes and needed the money to develop them. Now you get the impression of preordering finished stuff (which is not preordering like you mentioned).
For established companies... I call don't call it risk management but risk avoidance at the cost of the customers. Many times I want that kickstarter stuff in a retail pledge (because of monthly budget or not having seen the kickstarter) and there is none. That is bad for the reputation of a company as well as for the popularity of a game.
Point is assuming the product would happen as a retail product is not a good assumption, many crowdfunded products would simply not happen as a retail product, for many reasons.
My issue is that currently in france, Corvus Belli is associated with Hardcore miniature game in a niche market and Aristeia as a by product of Infinity! When looking for Aristeia you could not get it in board game store. You HAD to find a miniature game store with Infinity in order to get Aristeia IF the shop owner was keen to order it.
Would be a blessing sometimes. :D However, Kickstarter has many more problems. In Germany it is the translation thing plus the fact that many don't own a credit card. That being said you miss one of the largest boardgame markets that way.
Well, as someone who has tried to stop kickstarting so much stuff each year, I’m finding out it’s not entirely true. The secondary market for crowdfunded board games is massive. As long as you do not fall into the hype and end up paying through the nose by being impatient, there are actually very few games that can’t be gotten for a reasonable price. Sure, some games are genuine gems and become highly sought after and expensive. But then for those, a reprint almost always happens. I once considered paying a lot of money for Nemesis and Machina Arcana, but waiting a couple of years I got them at a “normal” price with stretch goals and all.
