Gloomhaven publisher transitions to Backerkit after Kickstarter’s blockchain push

polygon.com:

For many years now, Backerkit has been the trusted back-end for crowdfunding projects, handling shipping and organization logistics for Kickstarter campaigns. Now the San Francisco-based company is building its own crowdfunding platform, directly competing with Brooklyn-based crowdfunding giant Kickstarter. Crowdfunding by Backerkit emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday, and one of its first live campaigns will be run by one of its competitor’s biggest success stories: Cephalofair Games, creator of the critically-acclaimed board game Gloomhaven.

Since 2015, Cephalofair Games has raised more than $17.9 million on Kickstarter. Its most recent campaign, for a game called Frosthaven, is the single largest tabletop campaign in Kickstarter’s history, and the fourth most highly funded project on that platform. Cephalofair founder Isaac Childres says he’s had enough of Kickstarter, however, and the straw that broke the camel’s back was Kickstarter’s recent push into blockchain technology.

“We didn’t agree” with the decision to court blockchain, Childres wrote in his company’s newsletter on Tuesday. “So we made sure to clarify that our upcoming project would be crowdfunded, but not necessarily be a Kickstarter project. And we started seriously pursuing other options.”

In December 2021, Kickstarter unilaterally announced that it would transition its platform to blockchain technology. The backlash from its community of creators was swift. Kickstarter has since pumped the brakes, slowing but not stopping its transition to a novel protocol built on cryptographic “proof of stake” technology. It’s also in the market for a new chief executive.

“Kickstarter has made clear to us that they want to be at the forefront of a transition to