Unfinished Games

Opinion

Releasing unfinished games: The perfect storm of hubris and ambitious deadlines

By Josiah Sapp

    My very first gaming console that I remember playing was the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Playing games like Donkey Kong Country and Mega Man X to my heart’s content. As a young lad, it would be incredibly disappointing to get half way through the game to only find out that I could never finish it unless I paid for another cartridge. Unfortunately, games today do have that problem and it’s infecting the industry as a whole. With the invention of beta demos and live updates, unfinished games are going up for sale and people still buy them. Why do gamers buy into a practice that is blatantly hurting the gaming community and why do game developers/producers feel like they can get away with it? It’s a combination of excessive pride and ambitious deadlines.

    In today’s fast paced world of gaming, not being able to put out a game by the deadline is almost certain death for a developer or game. Putting out a game that doesn’t live up to the hype is equally as devastating. Developers are caught in this balancing act where they have to weigh these two questions; “Do we release an unfinished game or do we push back development?” The trend in games within the last 5 years has been to release an unfinished product. In 2016, a small indie developer called Hello Games promised a brand new game called No Man’s Sky. A procedurally generated never ending concept that has never been seen before was promised. What was delivered was a boring and never ending unfinished product. Produced and hyped by Sony, the small developer seemed to feel pressure to release what they had before it was done. A year later with some tweaks and added content, the game plays how it was promised but the reputation it gained at release is stopping new players from picking it up.

    Another game with a bumpy development and release is Fortnite. Developed by People Can Fly and published by Epic Games, Fortnite is mash up of all kinds of games. It’s a wave based (Gears of War), fort designing (Plants vs. Zombies) RPG with an emphasis on cooperative play and exploration (Minecraft). It’s got a lot going for it and it embodies the saying “A jack of all trades is a master of none”. Reviews are in and it seems like a middle of the road kind of game except for one thing. It isn’t done... And yet physical copies are being sold on store shelves as of July 21st. What’s even stranger is that it’s confirmed to be free to play by 2018. People can buy this game now when it’s not finished or wait until next year and get a finished product for free. Fortnite is only following the tried and true pattern of early access.

    To a developer, early access is a tempting proposition. They often can get information from their player base on how to develop the game while it’s being made. Not only that, they can get free publicity from YouTubers who stumble upon their title. Games are getting “released” earlier and earlier with the hopes of getting that precious player feedback. Take one look at Valve’s streaming service Steam and look at the list of early access games. People are obviously buying into this because the list grows each day and yet there is still the possibility that these games will never get finished. Funding could dry out, the fanbase could walk away, developers could even quit before the game is done or they didn’t intend to finish it at all. Early access isn’t necessarily a risk but it is sloppy development standards. Planning to sell an alpha or beta build of a game seems lazy at best and greedy at worst.

    Alpha and beta builds were first seen as a demo of an unfinished game. A little tease to wet the palates of the fans and give them a glimpse of what’s to come. When you got your shot at a beta, you felt like you were a part of the development of the game. You got to be part of a smaller community who had a say in how the game would be made.  Early access games are now sold at full price with the promise of updates and maybe being finished but studies have shown that only 25% of early access games get completed. The slippery slope of early access is a steep one and it appears that no one is getting out any time soon.