UWE did this before kickstarter was cool and everyone called them (and still do) frauds.
Have they finished developing the game yet?
Kickstarter projects allow game devs to use gamers as publishers, UWE takes it one step further and makes them pay for the privilege of being beta testers as well. It's only a matter of time before a major kickstarter beneficiary publicly implodes and the neckbeard internet rage will reach epic proportions.