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Atari are asking for investors to help fund the development of Rollercoaster Tycoon for the Nintendo Switch.

We are excited to share today that RollerCoaster Tycoon has launched an equity-based crowdfunding campaign with StartEngine to bring a new entry in the acclaimed RCT franchise to the Nintendo Switch!

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How much will it cost you to back the game? Just $250! Of course, you will earn your money back, IF the game sells enough units...

What do you think about this? If a company like Atari isn't confident enough to back the game 100% entirely, why should you?

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Rollercoaster Tycoon StartEngine Campaign

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[Bladexdsl]

fuck that it's just the shitty mobile port on the switch

 

[kumikochan]

Hate it when big companies ask for funding. If they want to do an investment that they do it with their own money greedy fucks. Also kinda funny and greedy that they're talking about bringing card packs over from their mobile game lmao, ofcourse

 

[Xzi]

fuck that it's just the shitty mobile port on the switch

It says it's a new game, they show footage from several previous RCT games in the trailer. Touch-based for sure, though. All that said, I'm not even close to sure you'd make your money back on this, review scores could very well bomb it. If it was a more solid franchise I'd be in for $750.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Is that the mobile version? They want $1 million for this port? This is Atari (or whatever company owns their name)? I see that plus next to that coin meter. That's where the microtransactions go, isn't it? Minimum $250 "investment"? How is "one of gaming's most beloved franchises" not able to afford a Switch port? Are they not confident in its success? Is this all just an elaborate scheme to gauge interest level? So I have the chance to "participate in a revenue share of a proven franchise, for a proven platform, and with a proven developer"? If it's proven, why are you shunting the check to us? If you're a proven developer, then what is all this elaborate crap about?

Fishy, fishy. Save your pennies.

 

[Xzi]

Is that the mobile version? They want $1 million for this port? This is Atari (or whatever company owns their name)? I see that plus next to that coin meter. That's where the microtransactions go, isn't it? Minimum $250 "investment"? How is "one of gaming's most beloved franchises" not able to afford a Switch port? Are they not confident in its success? Is this all just an elaborate scheme to gauge interest level? So I have the chance to "participate in a revenue share of a proven franchise, for a proven platform, and with a proven developer"? If it's proven, why are you shunting the check to us? If you're a proven developer, then what is all this elaborate crap about?

Fishy, fishy. Save your pennies.

To be fair, Atari has not been doing well financially AFAIK. So it makes sense they'd seek alternative funding for projects, but you might be right and this might end up ruined by MTX. If I wanted to invest in them I'd buy stock, this appears desperate.

 

[Brav0]

Seeing the gameplay vid, I can't trust it. Screen is filled with "Buy x pack! Limited offer.". I'll see what it's like when it comes out (if it does). They would be better off making some deal with Nintendo to port the original RCT1 over.

 

[AyanamiRei0]

Now doesn't that look familiar

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

To be fair, Atari has not been doing well financially AFAIK. So it makes sense they'd seek alternative funding for projects, but you might be right and this might end up ruined by MTX. If I wanted to invest in them I'd buy stock, this seems desperate.

Totally desperate. How can they be asking $250 minimum investment from fans? Crowdfunding is a far different pony than traditional forms of investment. If I like a project on, say, Kickstarter, I donate to it in the hopes that it becomes a reality, and then reap whatever tiered reward I'm supposed to get. I treat it wholly as a donation, and expect the chance that nothing could come out of it. However, when I go to invest, I go to stocks and traditional investments, not these funky crowdsourcing investment plans. There's no security, and the reward seems paltry.

 

[Pluupy]

Disgusting microtransaction filled port. No shame.

 

[Xzi]

Totally desperate. How can they be asking $250 minimum investment from fans? Crowdfunding is a far different pony than traditional forms of investment. If I like a project on, say, Kickstarter, I donate to it in the hopes that it becomes a reality, and then reap whatever tiered reward I'm supposed to get. I treat it wholly as a donation, and expect the chance that nothing could come out of it. However, when I go to invest, I go to stocks and traditional investments, not these funky crowdsourcing investment plans. There's no security, and the reward seems paltry.

The reward of 120% return on your investment then 25% of profits for 18 months seems pretty good, assuming you could know you were going to get it for sure. There's guaranteed to be more fine print and loopholes than I'd care to read, however.

Even if I knew I was going to make what they claim, it would leave me feeling guilty if it ended up full of MTX and I was profiting from a predatory garbage game.

 

[Deleted User]

Atari have money to develop a new console, the Ataribox, but can't fund their own game?

 

[Reploid]

Shit, now mainstream publishers do this.

 

[Clydefrosch]

how about fuck you atari?
how many times has that name changed owners now anyways?

 

[isoboy]

If a company like Atari isn't confident enough to back the game 100% entirely, why should you?

You said it. We're done here.

 

[VinsCool]

I'd rather wait for a hombrew port.

 

[derdobs]

Crowd Funding starts in January. Release is later the same year. I guess that means mobile port confirmed.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

The reward of 120% return on your investment then 25% of profits for 18 months seems pretty good, assuming you could know you were going to get it for sure. There's guaranteed to be more fine print and loopholes than I'd care to read, however.

Even if I knew I was going to make what they claim, it would leave me feeling guilty if it ended up full of MTX and I was profiting from a predatory garbage game.

That just makes my spidey senses tingle like mad. Limited, short-term investment to earn you a quick 120%, then another short-term period of 25% profits (I assume 25% of the profits will be split evenly among investors)? Provided it even gets the sales to break even on the investment threshold? Sounds too risky for me. I steer well clear of short-term investment because of the myriad of trappings and pitfalls that could leave you out a fair chunk of cash. This is why I don't trust this thing. I'd have more respect for it if it was a traditional Kickstarter, where backers make donations on a promise, not as real investments. In my eyes, real investment should always be a long-term game.

 

[Taleweaver]

How much will it cost you to back the game? Just $250! Of course, you will earn your money back, IF the game sells enough units...

What do you think about this? If a company like Atari isn't confident enough to back the game 100% entirely, why should you?

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Rollercoaster Tycoon StartEngine Campaign

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Okay...let me be perfectly serious here: no. This isn't for some personal hatred or something, but because it's atari. Rollercoaster tycoon world may not have been as bad in it's final state than it appeared in early access, but it is passed easily by both planet coaster (made by frontier, the guys who made RCT3) and parkitect (which is a true successor to the first couple of RCT's). Meanwhile, atari burned their own IP with the horrendous mobile port and the RCT:world version was delayed for well over a year.
The end result: I don't automatically assume a switch port will be bad, but I'm very certain it will never live up to the height of what the franchise was once about.


Oh, and an interesting read: an interview with Chris Sawyer, the maker of the first games.

 

[wurstpistole]

I love that for the 750$ backing, you get a 25% coupon off your RCT:S purchase. Like in they don't even throw in a free copy at 750$. What the heck, Atari.