What’s the best way to make and release a game: traditional closed development, Early Access, or by bringing in players with some form of beta? Early Access has generated a lot of interest of late. But it’s also an increasingly controversial way to develop and sell games. The allure is twofold: You fund your game’s development directly from sales while you make it, and you can work closely with your community to make the game they want to play, rather than just guessing what will work. But it’s proven to be difficult: Some teams aren’t ready for the process, some games don’t fit the method, and sometimes, players are deeply disappointed by projects that never shape up by the time development ends. We may have asked our Twitter followers which method is the best way to make a game, but our respondents mostly considered how to best make an Early Access or open-beta game. We share their comments below. Have you made an Early Access game? Have you learned something valuable from running a beta? Or do you want to defend traditional closed dev? Keep the information coming in the comments below. Remember, if you’re interested in participating in these conversations in the future, make sure to follow @Gamasutra on Twitter. The questions usually go out on Fridays in the late morning, Pacific time, alongside Tweets of our regular news, blogs, and original writing.
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2014