Kickstarter and Steam Early Access have been much debated for many different reasons including the risk backers or purchasers take when throwing down cash on a prototype or even just a concept! This is understandable and I have been ‘guilty’ of backing Kickstarters as well such as Ryan Payton’s Republique or Tim Shafer’s Broken Age which have released at least partially. The flip side is that there are many more games that have not yet been released or may never see the light of day.
The question that we ask now is, ‘Should we review Early Access games when they become available?, and I think the answer is no. Why? While some people may argue that when Minecraft or DayZ standalone launched into the world, players gave the developers hard currency in exchange for a product and this merits a review. When I give money to Amazon and buy a chair, I can review said chair which is fair game but Early Access or Kickstarter alpha builds like Godus are not final products regardless if you gave 22 Cans your cash.
A playable prototype is not a game, not is an alpha or a beta for that matter. Kickstarter and Early Access games are not finished. By backing and supporting these projects on Steam Early Access or Kickstarter you chose to become part of the development process as opposed to buy a final product, to which you will be entitled to once the game ships. Yes, you take a risk the game may not be good or even finished but this should be clear from the start.
The point I am making here is that Early Access games are just that – EARLY ACCESS – and media outlets should not be reviewing these games at all but should certainly cover them as part of the preview cycle which are games that are not yet finished. This has been an industry standard for decades and shouldn’t change just because you were able to hand a studio cash early to help the game. I won’t tell you not to voice your opinion or talk about the Early Access game or Kickstarter build you are playing but putting a number on a not yet finished piece of software just doesn’t make sense.
Once the game ships and is officially on the market as a final piece of code that can be purchased as version 1.0 so to speak, the developer said its peace and shipped the game – now we can review the game all we want.
