Kickstarter, the crowd-funding website that has risen to prominence in recent months, has launched a UK service.
Running as part of the original website, British-based developers will now be able to submit their applications with considerably more ease than before, and it's a move that has been welcomed by Ukie, the UK's video game and interactive entertainment trade body.
Dr Jo Twist, the CEO of Ukie, said: "Crowdfunding gives games businesses a fantastic way of raising money for their ideas. Crowdfunding is also a fantastic way to generate metrics to not only understand the appetite for their idea but to generate interest from other investors. The games industry has raised more money on the US version of Kickstarter than any other content category this year, prompting them to call 2012 Year of the Game, and its launch in the UK is only to be welcomed as it will make it even easier for games businesses based in this country to make use of the platform."
"Having Kickstarter in the UK will also raise the profile of crowdfunding more generally. There are already lots of other UK based crowdfunding platforms operating and government should recognise them as a sector and update financial regulation around equity based crowdfunding that will let the platform operators operate as efficiently as possible in the UK and make the regulation fighting-fit for a growing digital economy."