'Consortium: The Tower' reaches crowdfunding goal with FigApr 15(AZINS) The success of ambitious, independent title Consortium: The Tower suggests that video game crowdfunding platform Fig may be gaining momentum.

Building on a 2014 sci-fi role-playing game called Consortium and its penchant for conversation-driven progress, sequel Consortium: The Tower had previously stumbled in its attempts to crowdfund a development budget. Described as a cross between skyscraper-based action movie "Die Hard" and cyberpunk choice and consequence game Deus Ex, players will be able to fight, sneak, explore or talk their way through a futuristic hostage situation within a sprawling, partially-completed superstructure in 2042 London.

Despite the ambition, a January 2016 Kickstarter floundered. Consortium: The Tower accrued only US $142,500 of its US $350,000 goal by the time that month-long fundraiser closed. But as its Vancouver-based studio knows, sometimes you have to get back on the horse. Come April, and everything has changed. Consortium: The Tower relaunched on game-focused crowdfunder Fig, and when it crossed a revised threshold of US $300,000 on April 13, the project had been live for less than a week.

So what made the change?

Since January, promotions and sales have seen ownership of the original Consortium increase from 40,000 to over 140,000 on PC gaming platform Steam. Fans have spread the word, raising awareness of the franchise's qualities. And while US $20 still nets a copy of the game on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac or Linux, the campaign for "Consortium: The Tower" has been consolidated and simplified.

But, in a key difference from Kickstarter, Fig allows individual investors to put money down in return for potential dividends. As a result, approximately three-quarters of the game's US $300,000 base has come from such investors; conventional backers stumped up a mere US $75,000 in comparison.

Look at Fig's other early successes and there's a similar pattern at play: IGF winner Outer Wilds, long-awaited sequel Psychonauts 2, and belated cult movie tie-in Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch all benefited from around 50 percent or more investor-sourced funds. Sometimes you have to get back on the horse. Other times, you choose a different horse instead.