The money raised helps fund the development of the game. The same type of thing happens on Kickstarter too, for both video and board games, and sometimes people

The money raised helps fund the development of the game. The same type of thing happens on Kickstarter too, for both video and board games, and sometimes people get scammed out of what they backed on Kickstarter also (in fact before you back, Kickstarter requires you to check a box saying "Rewards aren't guaranteed. Backing means supporting a creative project, regardless of the outcome. I understand that rewards or reimbursements aren’t guaranteed by either Kickstarter or the creator."). But Kickstarter has also led to some really great games as well (like Shovel Knight and Undertale, and like 50% of all board games nowadays, or at least it seems like it). The idea behind the game or utility NFT projects (at least the legit projects, which I couldn't guess how many are legit, I've only recently -- within the past month -- stopped ignoring the NFT space and started learning about it) is basically Kickstarter but you see what you're going to use to interact with (and trade for other ones) before the game is made, as opposed to just Kickstarter taking your money and waiting for posted updates every few months until the game is out. You also get something unique to interact with the game, as opposed to having the exact same experience as everyone else. Those behind the NFT project wouldn't be able to make the game without the funds raised from the NFT sale (or unless they went on Kickstarter, but NFT is where more money is right now). People here raise venture capital to work on software projects all the time before the product is made, this shouldn't seem like such a foreign concept. Kickstarter had a lot of garbage and failed game projects and people getting scammed in the beginning too, before backers started getting wiser and knew what red flags to look out for, and game developers/publishers got more of a feel for the space and what's needed in order to insure a successful project. Now it's a pretty well-oiled machine (mostly...the shipping crisis has thrown a serious monkey wrench into board game Kickstarters this past year) and hundreds of millions of dollars are raised on Kickstarter for games every single year. https://www.intoindiegames.com/the-most-successful-kickstarter-funded-indie-games/ https://www.intoindiegames.com/the-most-successful-kickstart...