Originally Posted by
Tulya
You're missing the point: Crowdsourcing for such products serves to facilitate their very existence. For major publishers, profitability is only part of the equation. The size of the projected revenues also plays a considerable role in determining whether or not they'll start or maintain a project. (I believe there's a discussion relating to this, Hasbro, core brands, and Wizards of the Coast product lines somewhere on enworld.) It's a big part of why otherwise successful product lines are left to die, or licensed out to third parties, or brutalized to fit them into a format associated with greater revenues (like MMOs).
Crowdsourcing is a possible a way to enable reviving these licenses, and without tearing out their heart and soul. The success of Double Fine's adventure game has led to the serious possibility that Psychonauts might see the same treatment, for example.