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Should Games Be Delayed To Release Playable Demos?
Thanks to GameSpot for its 'GameSpotting' editorial discussing how important it is to release a playable demo of your games before the game debuts. Although he points out: "If your demo does not go over well with the public, it may end up being detrimental to the retail product", the writer notes: "My observations have consistently indicated that a demo's impact can be far more significant if it is released before, rather than after, a game. Look at Doom and Quake. Look at Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Battlefield 1942. The demos made these games." He even suggests games deserve delaying to get a representative demo released: "Given that resources are limited, should a game be delayed just so a demo can be released? ...I'm going to say the answer is yes."
I'm pretty sure Doom and Quake would have been successes without demos.
The release of the demo for Battlefield 1942 and bugs found in the demo actually improved the final release of the game... I usually don't buy a game unless I can demo it first. Nothing worse than plopping $60 on a game that you hate.
S
So what does exposing the bugs accomplish from the gamer's perspective? Are you more or less likely to buy a game based on a demo that crashes every 15 minutes? Developers that are forced to support a demo in order to ensure positive PR, are developers that are not actively finishing the product that's going to pay their bills.
It's nice to view a demo as a really big beta test, but if it has bugs, I think it can be a double-edged sword
Favorable "word of mouth" advertisement is better than gold. I'd think the game manufacturers would jump at the chance to get the word out their game was "hot", before it hit the shelves. Of course, if their game really sucks I can understand why they might not be too excited about providing a free peek.
This question is so dependent on the game that's under development that it's not really worth trying to answer. If the game's good, and the demo is made to reflect that goodness, then blammo you've got a marketig tool. If the game's good, but the demo sucks, then blammo, you've got an uphill battle with the final product. Don't worry, I'm not going to run through all the permutations of what could happen here. Just pointing out that it really can go either way.
Can your game be successful with a demo? Yes. Can your game be successful without a demo? Yes. Do some of us want to play a demo before buying the game? You betcha. Are some of us more likely to buy it if the demo goes over well? You betcha.
I've answered a few things here, but I'm not sure my info really pushes anybody in any particular direction. It's just too vauge. I do have one piece of advice, though: If your game relies on the "Open your mouth and close your eyes" profit strategy, don't put out a demo.
"Derp de derp."
I like demos cause it gives me a chance to try a game on my hardware before laying down 60 bucks for a game that might run sluggish on my system.
Sometimes the requirements listed aren't always on the mark and nothing convinces me more than the demo. If it wasn't for battlefields smooth demo play on my system, I would have doubted I could have run it. But now I have bf1942 + expansions. woot!
of course, people might say "well if it ran sluggish you wouldn't have bought it and that's a loss in sales" but I say any company that would lie about specs only to give me a frustrating game experience would not sell ANY expansions and i'd be vary wary about purchasing their other titles.
Some games even have user made content before the finished game is in the shops. OFP had more user made maps then were on the cd when it came out.
I don't buy the delaying crap either. A demo doesn't have to have all the extra's. It can be just a single mission/level without all the extra's that make a finished game. Also considering there is a gap between a game going gold and a game being on the shelves there is no real excuse for their not being a demo.
Basically a game without a demo is like buying a car you are not allowed to testdrive. I don't care what reviewers say about such a product. I smell something fishy.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Demo mission accomplished. You bought the game.
In any case, the only time a demo is any sort of signifigant burden on your team is when you're releasing it off a game thats not ready to ship - the demo should be indicitave of the final game, simple as that. I don't WANT to play your hacked up beta of a demo. I want to play a 20 minute version of your real game with all the polish and performance thats going to be in the final version, and I'm going to base my buying decision off of that.