New research points to the amount of money raised by video games Kickstarter in the first half of 2018 being slightly up year-on-year.

Ico Partners' Thomas Bidaux reports that $9.8m has been raised in the first six months of 2018, a slight increase on the first half of 2017's $9.5m. This is actually the highest amount that has been raised for three years, which paints a somewhat positive picture of the crowdfunding market.

There are, however, fewer projects coming to Kickstarter. There was a 13 per cent decline between the second half of 2017 and the first half of 2018 - larger than the five per cent dips that we've seen previously. This represents the lowest number of video games Kickstarter since H1 2012.

A similar number of projects were actually successfully funded during the last six months than the six preceding - 166 compared with 168.

The number of successful projects has risen, too. 23 per cent of those that came to Kickstarter during the first half of 2018 met their funding goals, compared with 20 per cent in H2 2017. This is actually one of the highest success ratios that we have seen on Kickstarter, with 2013 beating this period out. The first half of 2013 saw a 24 per cent success rate, with the tail end seeing 23 per cent.

There are a few reasons why this funding has been secured - there are more projects raising between $50,000 and $100,000, while the number of projects with a goal of less than $50,000 is actually at its lowest since 2013.

Additionally, the number of projects with goals of between $100,000 and $500,000 is at its lowest since 2012, meaning that that mid-level of funding is proving to be pretty successful. This sector has raised $1.5m during the first half of 2018, the highest amount since early 2012.