For the past few years, and especially as of late, more and more games have started to be released before they are fully finished. This isn’t new in the industry. Since Minecraft became such a big hit, and released before its full release, a lot of game developers have decided to follow in Notch’s footsteps. I am here to ask one question: Are games being released too early?
For those of you who don’t know, an Alpha release is usually a very rough and bug ridden game. An Alpha shows the core concept of what the game is to be. It is far from polished. A Beta release is the next step up. A Beta normally has its core features in the game, it comes across as more polished, but still has a lot of bugs. It lacks the finished shine a fully released game possesses.
To answer the question we need to look at a positive example. Minecraft is probably the most well-known and best example to use. The game is an open ended, creative, sandbox game. When Notch released Minecraft in 2009 as an Alpha, it wasn’t intended to make loads of money, nor was it expected to be as big as it is now. It was Notch sharing his idea with the world and asking people to support his idea by purchasing the game at a discounted rate, compared to what the full release would cost. This idea was a brilliant one, and because of the genre of the game, it worked in its favour. Minecraft can be built on over and over without ever losing its core concept. Other notable games that pulled this off well were Terraria, Starbound and smaller lesser known games. All of which share the same open ended idea where creativity and fun is as much as the player is willing to invest.
However, although this worked well for Notch, people fail to realize it can’t work in every situation. Over the years, 100’s of games have been released early as a form of making a quick buck without putting in hard time and effort towards a well-made and enjoyable game. This has led to disappointed fans and unfinished projects. It would be unfair to name names, but we have all bought a game in Alpha or Beta hoping it would grow into something amazing but the final product being less than lacklustre or takes years to develop.
Another point to bring up is the pricing structure. Most games usually charge half of what they want for the finished product. This is a great and fair idea. It means people can support the game, but not pay top dollar for something unfinished. One of the biggest issues I find is a lot of these Alpha and Beta releases are often overpriced and under developed. Make a great game, I’ll pay more for it. Don’t expect a person to pay a large amount for something that isn’t finished.
So this isn’t an article that says Alpha and Beta releases are bad, but more, it depends on the game. Some games could thrive on the idea, but more often than not these are open ended games that have no linear goal in motion. For example, if Call of Duty were to come out as an Alpha, it could destroy any hopes or expectations of the game/franchise as the game is very linear with only a few objectives in mind. This doesn’t mean to say that closed or open beta testing isn’t a bad idea. That is a different thing entirely and is a great idea to iron out bugs and see what your target market is after.
So before you go and buy an Alpha that is overpriced, think to yourself, “Has this game been released to early?” If the answer is yes, then give it a few months and see how its developed. You may save any possible disappointment for the future.