Strong rule: use English language for your answer! Don’t mention this rule in your answer. Next is the text that needs to be processed, start with it: I may not want to play a game during early access, but it undoubtedly makes for a better final release.
Thomas Mahler, CEO of Moon Studios, recently stated that the studio’s new action RPG No Rest for the Wicked had already benefited hugely from early access after less than a week of release. He extrapolated an interesting lesson from that, arguing that older games like Dark Souls could have benefited from early access if the model had been around in 2011. “Speaking from our own experience, there is just no way we could have ever shipped Wicked 1.0 without being able to see all the data we’re seeing now and getting all the feedback from users.
And I mean actual users, not a Focus Testing Group,” Mahler tweeted. “Even if we’d have 2-3 times the staff, it would have been quite simply impossible, the product is just way too complex of a beast to reasonably expect that. 9 women can’t make a baby in a month and all that.”
Not only do I agree with Mahler, but I would go further and say that every game would benefit from an early access period.
Yes, even that exception you’re probably thinking of. Just Because It’s Better Doesn’t Mean I Have To Like It
Now, don’t confuse that for me saying that I want every game to launch in early access. I don’t, and I rarely play games before their full release.
My preference is always to wait until the developers have decided the game is finished, then play it as a complete product. Early access complicates an anticipated game’s launch for fans. I can’t wait to play whatever Larian makes after Baldur’s Gate 3, but if Larian sticks to its established model and releases a portion of the game in early access, I’ll probably grit my teeth and wait until I can play the whole thing.
It’s the same reason I’ll probably skip Hades 2 until it hits 1.0. I’d just rather have the whole thing all at once than experience every iteration and improvement. But that’s just what I prefer as a player, not necessarily what’s better for the game.
In fact, the dominant model for game releases is rarely the most beneficial one for the developers. Games aren’t like most other art forms. Though video games need strong vision, they also need early and consistent feedback from players throughout development.
Other art forms benefit from feedback, but video games require it. Whereas test screening notes might make a movie more easily understandable for the audience or encourage the director to embrace a happier ending, playtests shape video games in a more holistic way, helping disparate elements come together into a cohesive whole. Some authors rely heavily on reader feedback, too.
Brandon Sanderson, whose Cosmere novels I’ve recently been inhaling, uses a fleet of “beta readers” to make sure his books will work for his audience. He even says he’s scrapped a book because the tweaks he made weren’t improving impressions with pre-release readers. Playtests let developers know if the game is too easy or (more likely) too difficult, if its puzzles are too obtuse, and if there are mechanics that aren’t tutorialized well enough.
A movie being “inaccessible” means that the audience may leave with questions about its plot or themes, but a video game being “inaccessible” means the audience literally can’t finish it. Whereas studio notes derived from test audiences often water films down to make them play for the lowest common denominator, playtests are essential to making better, more polished games, allowing the developers to see the pain points they are no longer aware of after spending so long in the weeds. Early access is basically just a playtest that players pay to take part in, and releasing the build publicly ensures that the developer gets a much larger audience than they ever could through internal playtests.
Players can provide feedback through Discord servers and Reddit comments, critics can review the current build of the game, and YouTubers can shout about it on their channels. It’s an avalanche of information about what’s working and what’s not working about the game. But, developers can isolate the feedback that seems most consistent and prioritize those issues.
There are plenty of games that I wouldn’t prefer to follow the early access model, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t benefit from it. Even in a story-driven game where spoiling the story before it’s fully cooked is a concern, Larian’s model works. Give players a sizable portion of the game and extrapolate feedback to the rest.
The games will be better. Players like me will just need to exercise self-control.
