Early Access Has Ruined Indie Development

[briankoontz]

Wouldn't it be better if we didn't take labels such as "early access", "alpha", "beta", and "finished" so seriously?

How about if we judge the quality of a game by how it makes us feel. By how it affects who we are.

So Crypt of the Necrodancer, for example, is a great game already as far as I'm concerned, despite it's "early access". It's far better than most "finished" games, and is a great experience in it's current state.

Do I care that it's labeled "early access"? Not really. They could label it "disgusting and horrible" and it would be the same experience.

It seems like the "early access" trap mostly applies to people who are overly optimistic about what a game can become based on nothing other than hope. People like this are much like addicts - if they don't fall into this trap they'll just fall into something else.

 

[Racecarlock]

I look at this as simply a huge representation of the process of darwinian evolution.

Designs that don't work go extinct, designs that do work survive. Same goes for developers.

 

[josemlopes]

I still havent bought any Early Access game that I didnt enjoy because I only bought about 2 and both of them could have already be sold as full games because they were that content filled and polished.

We have the internet and so many means of knowing the if the game is broken or shit.

 

[Johnny Fake-Name]

Completely Agree. Beta is for the gamers to break the game as much as possible, not play a game with only 3 of 5 mechanics. It does allow for lazy production and indefinite alphas. Cube World is a perfect example. The developer IS working on a patch, but this will have been the first patch since release OVER A YEAR AGO. Most people have given up on the game, and so even if he does release a finished project, it will receive little hype from those who bought the early access. Although, some less reputable developers may count on recieving that early access buy-in and never having to finish the job. It's the new microtransactions craze.

 

[michael87cn]

you are wrong, none of those 'points' (which are flawed, heavily) stop indie devs from making good games. So people are using early access? Good for them! Good games will still come out. Games like Spelunky, Binding of Isaac, etc.

IMO abuse of early access won't last long. When you take advantage of people they tend to not forget, nor forgive. When people hate you, they stop giving you money, and you go out of business. Simple as that. The people that try to 'steal' from people by releasing unfinished games, or simply never finish their job? They won't earn a good reputation (needed to continue to succeed in the MEDIA world, video game or otherwise).