Recently, Valve head honcho Gabe Newell has suggested that perhaps “user/community financing” could be a new avenue that developers might start exploring. Newell has gone on to say that this is a concept that he is looking at very seriously.

The “community financing” model might work like this. The developer makes available the “pitch” for the new title along with information on the development time table for the title. Users in the community would then be given the chance to be an early investor in the title and be able to contribute or invest, if you will, money in to the title and they would get a free copy of the game when it is released and also might be able to share in a return on their investment if the title is successful.

One of the thoughts is that because the community is more involved in the investment of the title at an early stage, those that invest would only put their money into something that they really like; which should signal a far greater likelihood of success for the developer. In addition, with the budgets of the high profile titles reaching ever higher, this could also be a source of financing that could help offset the actual dollars that a developer needs to get a project completed when the project is in its infancy.

The concept of user/community financing is starting to mature, with new structures for donation-based projects which could translate well into the gaming market space. With gamers being more Internet savvy, the idea of developers pitching their ideas and concepts for a new title to the community and asking them to invest in it if they like it does not really seem far fetched at all.