Representatives of several independent gaming companies and the Australian publisher Surprise Attack Games founded The Treasure Hunters FanClub (THFC) foundation to find, finance and promote promising indie studios.
“I know from experience how frighteningly difficult it can be for novice developers to find money for their projects. At the same time, they risk their independence. We want to save them from these troubles and let them focus on the creative process,” said Chris Wright, founder of Surprise Attack.
The Treasure Hunters FanClub has already included the creator of Hyper Light Drifter Alex Preston, one of the developers of the Fantastic Contraption puzzle Andy Moore and co-founder of Hipster Whale studio Andy Sum.
Producer Felix Kramer, who worked on the launch of the SuperHyperCube puzzle, is responsible for the search for promising indie teams.
The scheme of the fund’s work
- THFC and Surprise Attack find interesting projects that need funding.
- They are submitted to the members of the club for consideration.Participants decide whether they want to invest.
- Surprise Attack enters into a publication agreement with the authors of the approved titles.
- Developers receive funding, as well as feedback and recommendations from club members.
- Under the terms of the agreement, the developers return to investors the amount of their investments in double the amount of gaming income.
- Surprise Attack shares part of the publishing fees with the members of the club. Thus, THFC receives 5% of gaming revenue in excess of the amount of investment compensation.
- Surprise Attack and THFC take over the project management, giving developers the opportunity to focus on the creative side of the project.
The first title funded by The Treasure Hunters FanClub was the tactical shooter Tear Through by the Australian studio Walk with Kings.
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