After the campaign ends

The end of the campaign is the start of the actual work. First, the money arrives: the platform collects payments over the following days, some cards fail (typically a low single-digit percentage never resolves), fees come out, and the net lands in your account roughly two weeks after the campaign closes on Kickstarter, with Gamefound on a comparable schedule. That net figure, not the number on the campaign page, is your real budget, so update your spreadsheet before spending anything.

Next comes the pledge manager, the system where backers confirm shipping addresses, pay accurate shipping rates, buy add-ons, and upgrade pledges. On Gamefound this is built in. On Kickstarter most creators use BackerKit, Gamefound's pledge manager product, or PledgeBox. Pledge managers routinely add 10 to 20 percent on top of campaign revenue through add-on sales and upgrades, and they are also where late pledges land: people who missed the campaign can still join at campaign or slightly higher prices, keeping revenue flowing during the long manufacturing wait.

Then manufacturing begins in earnest. Final files go to the factory, proofs and a pre-production copy come back for approval, mass production runs, and freight gets booked to your fulfillment hubs. Do not lock final quantities until the pledge manager closes, because add-ons and late pledges change the counts, and ordering 10 to 15 percent overage above backer numbers covers replacements for damaged copies and gives you initial retail stock.

Delivery is regional and staged: containers arrive at fulfillment partners in each region, they ship to backers over days or weeks, and your job becomes support, replacing damaged and missing components and chasing lost packages. When the dust settles, you are holding a delivered game, leftover inventory, and a backer list, which together are the starting capital for retail sales, distribution, and your next campaign.