Shovel Knight: The Story of Yacht Club Games and a Kickstarter That Was Too Successful
Channel: Video Game Story Time
Date: 2018-10-12

Shovel Knight shouldn't be a success.

By all rights, Yacht Club Games' first title should have been just another failed Kickstarter; a project that sounded promising on paper but fell apart once the team ran into difficulties.

Even after earning $300,000 of crowdfunding, Shovel Knight didn't have enough of a budget to fully complete its various features. Feature creep had taken sway, and the team - led by Sean Velasco, Nick Wozniak - had promised a lot more than they could deliver.

The tale of Shovel Knight, then, is a story of hard work in the face of a seemingly insurmountable challenge. A team of dedicated games industry veterans wanted to strike out on their own and make something special and original, and they sacrificed greatly in order to make it happen.

Take comfort from the story of Shovel Knight. Sean and Nick, alongside other teammates David D’Angelo, Ian Flood, and Erin Pellon, have proven that if you want something badly enough, you can find a way to make it happen.

Lots of love,v
BretonStripes (http://twitter.com/bretonstriped) and Kotor (http://twitter.com/kotorcomics)

Title music by Tee Lopes (http://twitter.com/teelopesmusic)
v
Incidental music: "Peace of Mind" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources for this video:
https://www.usgamer.net/articles/inside-shovel-knights-launch
https://yachtclubgames.com/2014/08/sales-one-month/
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/237629/Road_to_the_IGF_Yacht_Club_Games_Shovel_Knight.php
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidDAngelo/20140625/219383/Breaking_the_NES_for_Shovel_Knight.php
http://www.warpzoned.com/2013/03/new-studio-yacht-club-games-sails-away-with-a-crew-from-wayforward/
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/07/29/shovel-knight-devs-discuss-co-op-pogo-jumping-and-beyond.aspx