SWADE recently came on my radar to potentially move onto after I finish Oracle of War and escape from the disruption of Revised 5E (One D&D or however you wanna say it). Also been looking at WWN but I’m not to sure that it’s mechanics aid in playing in a pulp/noir setting.
Crowdfunding played a part, but there’s also the vision and the plan to attain that vision, as well as the community behind the crowdfunding and dedication to quality. My employer is employee-owned, and so it shares a lot of values with Larian and were successful without needing to be publicly traded. It really is down to core values and how well those values are upheld internally, money is just a means to an end.