Nice blog post, put D:OS up on early access already
I think the internet hoohah about Steam Early Access (SEA) can partly be explained as cynicism in gamers resulting from the less than stellar practices of some game studios and publishers (coupled with the sheer inanity one witnesses in gaming forums leading gamers to worry for
humanity the industry).
A fear I’ve often seen expressed is that SEA might contribute to poorer release states of games, due to unscrupulous companies taking advantage of the conditioning of gamers to unfinished products; which is usually accompanied by the observation that there are more games being released in an unfinished, buggy state these days. Personally, I’m not sure that this perception is accurate; there have been plenty of such games in the past and I suspect that it is rather the proliferation of media itself through the internet which is highlighting OMG THIS GAME IS A BUGGY DISASTER HATE RANT NET SLANG VENTING an ongoing issue. Nor do I see how SEA would necessarily lead to a detrimental effect on the quality state of released games. The internet hasn’t exactly been silent regarding games like Battlefield-4 and I don’t see why such backlash would abate merely because SEA exists. Unscrupulous companies will get away with whatever they can, if we let them, not because SEA somehow supposedly enables them to.
Another common concern people raise is the sheer number of games being released on SEA, implying that this is indicative of the greed of developers to cash in before the game is even ready, rather than simply a good business move that may also benefit consumers. Scepticism is good. Gamers need to be more discerning about what they are buying on early access. However, cynicism is not as helpful as it tends to overlook the real benefits of SEA in favour of an alarmist position in the attempt to protect gamers from shoddy business practises. That unscrupulous behaviour occurs does not invalidate SEA as a valuable mechanism that can benefit both developers and consumers. The same can be said of kickstarter, which is also a system open to abuse, yet is arguably one of the best things to happen to gaming, well ever.
However, despite some similarities including the reliance on trust, in my opinion Kickstarter and Steam Early Access are quite different beasts. More importantly, they are regarded differently. In short, Kickstarter is seen to be more ‘okay’ because it is about pledging, whereas SEA is more about buying. It is important to note that this is a distinction made mostly in the minds of backers/consumers. SEA can easily be seen as a way to support the development of a game and company you believe in. Yet Kickstarter is more selflessly supportive and encourages personal investment in the game’s development. You won’t see many people paying many times more the cost of the game on SEA, or being as understanding regarding the state of development, I’d wager. Kickstarter is more about the shared endeavour to help create exciting visions that otherwise wouldn’t be possible, while SEA is more of a straight business transaction to purchase a discounted unfinished game to play right away. SEA is seen as being for games that are near completion and don’t need public funding so much. So people are naturally more suspicious and question the notion of paying to essentially test a game more in this model than in the feel-good kickstarter dream factory.
The upshot of all this is that it might be a very good move to stress to the steam community the value of purchasing D:OS to the game’s development, both through feedback and additional funding. Demonstrate your integrity and show that their trust in buying your early access game is well founded. Bring a little of that kickstarter feel-good magic to SEA so that people are more invested and feel good about themselves for supporting the game. “You are not just getting to play something now at a discount, you are helping us to make a better game for everyone. We appreciate your trust in us and will use your feedback and money to make you something awesome.”
Which is after all, what we all want.
