One of concepts the article mentions is the authors's beliefs of "unfinished games" and how he categorizes them into two types.
Early Access has the kinds of games that, as long as they're supported, are going to be consistently tweaked, expanded, patched and even modded.
Which is true, as many games before Early Access have followed this model. World of Warcraft and Team Fortress 2, with their constant updates over their long lifespans, have never had a final version because there is always something that is being added. Their widespread community support has allowed them to keep living, as many games before them have died because people lost interest. The other type of game he mentions is:
They're also unfinishable in that they're not games that players can say they've completed with any kind of authority.
While there can be argument for how open world games such as Minecraft, because they have no set goal and allow players to do whatever they want in the confines of the game, can never be "finished", the better type for Early Access games are those which are actually never completed. This isn't because of constant updates, but the lack thereof. Games marked Early access on steam but the developers have given up updating it and have left it in a stage of unfinished limbo have also been popping up. Even games that have been rushed to be released that are barely functional have pockmarked 2014 as the year of unfinished games. In response, more and more gamers have been taking a stance from pre ordering a game before they see if it functions or not. Some have gone far enough to boycott entire companies because of this sneaky tactic. While games were still considered a novelty, developers would take time to perfect the little details and treat their product like an art; hence, the late nineties and early 2000's are considered by many to be the golden age of gaming. Now, while games are being pumped out to maximize revenue, players are losing faith in the companies themselves. In order for companies to regain consumer trust, they have to think about customer satisfaction over the bottom line.
http://www.polygon.com/2014/1/24/5338478/early-access-exposes-the-lie-that-the-best-games-should-or-even-can
This rising trend of medium sized companies releasing unfinished games as "betas" seems kind of pointless to me. I don't understand why a company would want to promise their fans something amazing with trailer, then give them 1/16th of what was promised by telling them that "its early access. I find what steam is doing to be warranted in telling the buyer that the game they are going to purchase isn't finished. Boycotting companies that do this should be a more common practice.
ReplyDeleteThis rising trend of medium sized companies releasing unfinished games as "betas" seems kind of pointless to me. I don't understand why a company would want to promise their fans something amazing with trailer, then give them 1/16th of what was promised by telling them that "its early access. I find what steam is doing to be warranted in telling the buyer that the game they are going to purchase isn't finished. Boycotting companies that do this should be a more common practice.
ReplyDeleteReleasing unfinished games is ridiculous. I don't understand why someone would want to buy an unfinished product. Better yet, I don't understand why Steam thinks consumers would want to. It's like buying a movie just to have it stop suddenly in the middle of the plot. I support betas, as they are normally free and give the consumer an opportunity to experience the upcoming game before purchasing. I do not agree with what Steam is doing by releasing unfinished games as the final product.
ReplyDeleteI am totally okay with Betas being available to a small audience, builds hype and allows the game to improve, but when a publisher pushes a developer to have a game "finished" by a certain date just so they can have it released by the holiday season is just ridiculous. It's a self-destructive cycle of greed, that benefits no one.
ReplyDeleteSteam is a different story entirely since for many of the indie games on there there is barely any marketing done, so if a game developer wants to release the game for early access it could be veiwed as an attempt to market their game on steam because no one is going to want to pre-order an indie game they have never heard of, but if they can play it right away for a cheap or free price they might take a look. The fact that they do not update the game is on them, but I don't view it as releasing that unfinished game as their final product, I see it as them never releasing a final product.