How long should a title remain in Early Access?

[Burntout]

So, this is a fun question. I'd like people to take human longevity into account. According to google on average 72.98 years.

So far, KSP2 has squandered 6 of those 72 years. Another consideration is that according to the Google machine most games spend 3 to 5 years in development.

FOR A POORLY DONE RE-SKINNED VERSION OF KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM. (It literally has TAKEN things away from the originally. How the !@#$ does a sequel do that?)

Sorry, I figured the use of all-caps would get that point across without argument.

[HeyItsMe]

Its hard to understand the chasm between what was supposed to launch in 2020 vs what was delivered in 2023. I hope someone, someday spills the beans on what happened.

Im thinking when the KSP2 contract was pulled from Star Theory and handed over to Intercept Games, KSP1 IP went to IG and all work on KSP2 stayed with ST. IG started from scratch on the bet they could deliver quicker and cheaper than ST. Bet didnt pan out - IG struggles to code and develop the game. Mounting costs eventually result in a buggy $50 EA launch to recoup costs. IG continues to struggle to develop. Game will be canceled after colonies because only 800 play it regularly.

[umgawa]

KSP 2 has been in early access for less than a year. Sure, it's been in development for longer than that, but Jesus Christ, don't be so dramatic. Consider that they were probably working on GTA 6's early design before GTA 5 was polished and out the door, and it's not slated until 2025, despite having more than ten times the staff of KSP 2.

So, seriously, just dial back the drama to at least factual levels. And, as for how long a game should remain in Early Access (as opposed to whatever you're talking about below the subject line), Software Inc has been in Early Access since May of 2015. So, at least that long.

TL;DR: Stop whining.

[[BLK] Telu]

Two years big maximum. And you should be force to show progress to steam. So, they can decide if you can still stay in early access or not.

Since Steam like to protect the end customer, they should do that to make sure than AAA companies don't try to scam people with fake indie studios.

[HeyItsMe]

Originally posted by umgawa:

KSP 2 has been in early access for less than a year. Sure, it's been in development for longer than that, but Jesus Christ, don't be so dramatic. Consider that they were probably working on GTA 6's early design before GTA 5 was polished and out the door, and it's not slated until 2025, despite having more than ten times the staff of KSP 2.

So, seriously, just dial back the drama to at least factual levels. And, as for how long a game should remain in Early Access (as opposed to whatever you're talking about below the subject line), Software Inc has been in Early Access since May of 2015. So, at least that long.

TL;DR: Stop whining.

I dont think anyone would have issues with KSP2 being EA for multiple years if that's what was marketed and talked about. But it wasnt. What was marketed and talked about was full game, everything on the KSP2 roadmap, released on PC, xbox, and playstation. Then in the October before February release - surprise it's now an EA game PC only and its 50 bucks.

I think it would be super interesting to know how a company went from believing they were on track to deliver a full game to barebones EA release 3 years later. What was actually going on in the background when the company was saying they were delaying the game, again, because they wanted customers to have a polished fun game to play.

Devs must have been seething at all the marketing and hype being thrown around - knowing development was years and years behind what was being marketed.

[[BLK] Telu]

Yes, no roadmap with date on it. No detail on each milestone.

Squad and Black Matter managed to do it in many games, i don't see why Intercept could not do it. Especially knowing than they are a AAA studio, so, they know exactly what is their planning for pushing every milestone in the pipeline.

Customers should stop to forgive so easily those fake indie studio. A buggy mess should not be acceptable. Stop saying "it's ok, don't fix it".

[FarleShadow]

If KSP2 had been released by an indie developer for 20 dollars, then they told us they aren't able to keep a reasonable patch cadence because life/war/school/etc but continued to make small, incremental steps to remove minor bugs each month then (aside from the usual people screaming SCAM after playing for 0.2 seconds) nobody would have given a ♥♥♥♥.

They'd probably be praising it for trying to keep the KSP dream alive...

[[BLK] Telu]

Kebab chefs is made by an indie dev and is not even on Early Access. The guy release hotfix everydays even the sunday.

Intercept can't even push a fix every weeks in the pipeline. They are legions to work on that game.

[Burntout]

Originally posted by umgawa:

KSP 2 has been in early access for less than a year. Sure, it's been in development for longer than that, but Jesus Christ, don't be so dramatic. Consider that they were probably working on GTA 6's early design before GTA 5 was polished and out the door, and it's not slated until 2025, despite having more than ten times the staff of KSP 2.

So, seriously, just dial back the drama to at least factual levels. And, as for how long a game should remain in Early Access (as opposed to whatever you're talking about below the subject line), Software Inc has been in Early Access since May of 2015. So, at least that long.

TL;DR: Stop whining.

You chose one of the largest game franchises to make your comparison? Alongside, a small indie title I doubt no one here reading has heard of. I'm not sure what your point is.

The drama is warranted given the frustrations many fans of the original have with the sequel. Why is that so difficult to understand? It was never meant to be an EA - GTA 6 is coming out as a full-release and as it stands has a release date of Q1 or Q2 2025. Reasonable. GTA5 when it came out was a massive success early on.

Software Inc seems to be a literal indie tittle with a very little niche following. It's not a franchise. It's not a sequel.

Anyways - since you've glossed over why some people are frustrated with a multi-million dollar title that's been in EA coming up on 1 year, that was announced in 2019...

It's LITERALLY A RE-SKINNED VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL.

Edit: Went back and looked at Software Inc. It looks like utter dog crap, but it was received positively, and very few people seem to be complaining...

HOW THE HECK IS THAT A COMPARISON?

[Skorj]

Originally posted by BLK Telu:

Kebab chefs is made by an indie dev and is not even on Early Access. The guy release hotfix everydays even the sunday.

Intercept can't even push a fix every weeks in the pipeline. They are legions to work on that game.

Just to point out: it's normal that big teams are slower to patch bugs (or do anything else). It's a "latency vs bandwidth" thing. But there's "slower" and there's "IG slow". With anything resembling modern dev practices, even a big team should be able to push patches to Steam every 2 weeks. (Consoles are a whole different world.)

[[BLK] Telu]

Klei entertainment is a big team and have no issues pushing fix every weeks/months.

[DjBenZo]

another 5 years . just keep playing everytime they update. its like a new game everytime!!! look at the brightside lol

[Blue Mushroom]

Most of the games I've purchased in early access have been in EA for 3-5 years and I'm fine with that. It's better than a game like City Skylines 2 launching and advertising a finished game when it really should have been released as EA for a year.

[General T.Montana Tropic Thunder]

Originally posted by Burntout:

How long should a title remain in Early Access?

42

[HeyItsMe]

Originally posted by Blue Mushroom:

Most of the games I've purchased in early access have been in EA for 3-5 years and I'm fine with that. It's better than a game like City Skylines 2 launching and advertising a finished game when it really should have been released as EA for a year.

This made me laugh out loud.

[[BLK] Telu]

PDX are special. They release barebone title to be able to sell DLCs for years on it. Best strategy with PDX is to not buy their product since they don't finish their game to be able to milk their fanbase like a big cow.