Crowdfunding is something that you give money to once, and then forget about it.

Games work differently. You keep playing, and give money however often you want - and in today's lootbox(/gacha) bullshit, as much as you want with almost no limit.


For example, Nekopara kickstarter gathered 936k dollars. The highest donation was 10k. Yeah, you're right, 99% came from dolphins. But you know what? If it would be a game, this one guy could most likely afford to pay that 10k every day. For months. If not years. And not even notice the loss of money. Also, if Nekopara had put the top-prize at 10m, I bet this guy would've paid it. And oh look, suddenly a whale is responsible for pretty much all the money.

You are correct that mass refunds can kill companies though, getting chargebacked is EXPENSIVE.