Indies, Steam and Early Acces - gamedev revolution or impending crash? - by Yakoob
Yakoob on 11/2/2014 at 02:18
We definitely live in an exciting time for gamers, with the huge influx of indie devs thanks to tools like Unity3D/UDK/Game Maker and venues like Steam, Kicstarter or Early Access lowering the barrier to entry. The golden age of gaming... or is it? Perhaps the barrier to entry is getting too low?
There's two issues here - first is the oft criticized (
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/8753-Steam-Needs-Quality-Control) Steam Greenlight's lack of quality control leading to an endless flood of indies, half of which are unimagitive copypastas, or (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ask3Dn1ocIQ) downright broken. But what's perhaps even more disturbing to me is the whole Early Access model, which basically boils down to (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyGbbIB5eaM) paying for an uncertain and unaccountable promise of a game, maybe, kinda, someday. Games are no longer released, they're stuck in "perpetual beta." I can understand that in case of constantly updated MMOs, but single player games? Five years ago companies paid beta testers to test; now, the beta testers pay the company for the "privilege."
And Kickstarter is no better, as we saw that (
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/07/03/broken-age-needs-more-money-tries-steam-early-access/) even an experienced studio with more than needed funding cant live up to its promise.
I don't think we'll be seeing a repeat of the 1983s crash per se, but I am a bit concerned, even if these new opportunities is what allowed me to become an Indie myself. I might have mentioned it before, but I do feel half my game's success is purely due to the marketing efforts, moreso than the merit of my game. Sure that's a staple of a capitalist market, but wasn't the point of Steam Greenlight and similar to help indies get into the market, and get recognized?
Because sometimes it feels the opposite. And when you see your new title disappear from the front page in half a day, or yet another early access MineCraft Zombie Angrybirds Clone that's not even finished already outperforming various other innovative or original titles, it kinda makes you question why you even bother :/
EDIT: And here's an interesting article (
http://www.bluecloudsolutions.com/blog/money-apps-turn-1k-200k-portfolio/) on App flipping a friend just sent me. one of the reasons I've always refused to touch app development with a 10 foot pole...
GodzillaX8 on 11/2/2014 at 04:07
In Double Fine's defense, they scaled their project a hundred times higher than they'd ever imagined it being, simply because they had made so much on Kickstarter.
That said, I refuse to back Kickstarter projects from any devs without any kind of proven track record, and even then I usually only back enough to get a copy of the game.
I'm also done buying Early Access games because so many of them seem to be vaporware. "We released this technically functional demo, and now we will make a snail's progress on finishing it for 5 years" By the time a lot of these games are done, no one will want to play them anymore. I'm really glad Steam added the "early access" banner to things so I know what to avoid buying. About 90% of the early access games I have purchased seem to hardly ever update, much less come anywhere near the promises they initially made.
Greenlight has slightly better quality control than Desura, but not quite enough.
june gloom on 11/2/2014 at 05:28
I've been passing that app flipping article around. It's appalling, really. When the mobile gaming revolution comes I hope that motherfucker's first against the wall.
Renault on 11/2/2014 at 06:01
I've had bad luck with Early Access stuff, I won't do it anymore (Starforge and 7 Days To Die come to mind). DayZ was an exception because I know it will eventually be good and Rocket proved himself with the mod. The thing that kills me is when these devs charge astronomically amounts for Early Access, as if you're so privileged to have the opportunity to see their product through development. I think Steam should crack down a bit and demand more details when qualifying for Early Access - here's what is currently working here's what isn't. That and force them to offer a discount for these half-done projects - I didn't mind paying $15 when Minecraft was in alpha because it looked cool and the risk/reward was minimal.
Hell, some Early Access stuff I've bought hasn't even run, at least until months later when they ironed out a few bugs (Dream and How To Survive come to mind). But whatever the case, there needs to be tighter controls, and easier ways to get your money back if the games just plain old don't work.
PigLick on 11/2/2014 at 06:50
I think the influx of indie games isnt a bad thing, there are always gonna be crap games amongst the good anyway. The Early access thing though I think is rather dubious, as it seems to be coming the norm, and I rather think that it develops a certain laziness. I have Starbound though, which is good, but havent played much of it yet, and will be getting Dayz once it matures a bit more.
The "perpetual beta" thing is surely the fault of Minecraft and its incredible success? Dont get me wrong I love minecraft, but it seems to have set a template for everyone else to follow.
jesus that app flipping article IS appalling. Unfortunately dethy, I cant see there being any kind of a mobile gaming revolution, tbh.
Starker on 11/2/2014 at 07:14
Did they actually promise a smooth development cycle? I thought Schafer said in the pitch video even that it might end as a disaster. As for the game itself, I actually really enjoyed the first half.
SubJeff on 11/2/2014 at 08:00
That app flipping article just shows that there are a lot of people with bad taste. But we already knew that.
henke on 11/2/2014 at 09:17
Yeah, I'm usually no doom-sayer, but there's a lot of crap in the current indie scene. Greenlight, Kickstarter, and Early Access were supposed to give the consumers more influence, but it's resulted in games stuck in perpetual alpha, and lax quality controls on the stuff that does get released.
More and more I'm starting to feel like things were better in the olden days. When games had to be finished before they went on the (digital) shelves, and developers were held accountable to publishers with legal teams, instead of just to gamers.
DDL on 11/2/2014 at 10:52
That article was hilarious. Bonus points for saying so much horrible, cynical,
awful stuff with a totally straight writing tone. Also, I like the idea of people sitting down and coming up of ways to make "random celebrity + running" into a snappy title.
Quote:
Rhianna Runner?
YES!
Kardashian Dash?
FUCK YES!
Uh...Gary Busey's Busy?
PUT. THAT. COFFEE. DOWN. COFFEE'S FOR APP FLIPPERS ONLY.
Still, horrible.
As far as greenlight/early access stuff goes, I'd just say be healthily skeptical.
Jason Moyer on 11/2/2014 at 11:01
I only buy early access titles or kickstarted titles from developers I feel comfortable with, and doing otherwise is, imho, not different than doing any sort of speculative investment. Double Fine, inXile, Obsidian, Kunos, Crate, and whatever Rossignol's company is called. I'll also be grabbing the newest Bugbear and Klei games when I have some fundage. Oh, and projects that are far enough into development that they could be legitimately referred to as alpha or beta, like Betrayer by those former Monolith devs. Throwing cash at projects that are far from being feature-complete or are being developed by people without any real credentials is too much of a gamble for someone with my level of income.
