“Early access” where you can play the game 48 hrs early if you buy the super deluxe edition is ridiculous
Honestly, that's a form of premium that I'm onboard with. I wouldn't buy it myself...but by the same token, I don't mind waiting 48 hours, so it has a very minimal negative impact on me. A game could just as easily have crashed into a bug and slipped release by much more than 48 hours.
And if you're getting a game 48 hours prior to release, you're at least getting a finished game. The curse of early access schemes is games that never really make it to a finished game. You're paying more, but you're still getting the product, and it's pretty easy to judge what you're getting and whether it's worthwhile to you.
Game publishers normally do have some form of leveraging price discrimination to get people who want a game sooner to pay more...but it's usually in the form of prices dropping over a much longer period of time, older games costing less. I don't mind waiting 48 hours. Frankly, I'd rather wait a couple of weeks anyway for bugs to be patched and reviews to come out. I care more about waiting five years (though there's the whole !patientgamers@sh.itjust.works crowd who intentionally wait a period of time after release, maybe a year or more).
And if you’re getting a game 48 hours prior to release, you’re at least getting a finished game.
True. But, personally, I think it has all the downsides of pre-ordering but at extra cost. The game could be an absolute disaster (Suicide Squad, anyone?) and there's no way for anyone to know that. Not waiting to be able to properly inform yourself about what you're spending money on is so stupid.
I'm honestly reaching the point where I think pre-ordering games should be legislated against. Sure, it's only stupid people being parted from their money, but it's clear some consumers need protecting from themselves and it's only really the corporations that would lose out.
48hrs of early access is also nice for games like MMOs, getting a chunk of people through starting zones before the masses is good for everyone. Competitive games can get more dedicated players out of the lower leagues a bit faster.
Moonring is early access. Hell, it's technically some sort of beta-not-a-release...thing.
I played Inkulinati in early access.
I played Potion Craft in early access.
They were not without their issues and bugs, but they were typically updated and fixed within reasonable amounts of time. (Sometimes too reasonable... Get some you time Dene!) If it was something game-breaking, it would get updated asap.
I guess the lesson here is small indy studios are usually a safe bet when it comes to early access if you do a little due diligence, but never trust the big corpos.
That's not what they meant though. In this case people are paying extra to GET the game 2 days early so they get a head start. I agree with your thoughts though.
I used to love the AC series, going so far as to get the collectors edition with the figurine. But they made so many editions I ended up not getting any for fear I wasnt getting the complete one.
I hate multiple editions, like one special edition is fine and after some time a complete edition with added content is tolerable.
I can't wait to catch up on all the games coming out now in a few years with my steam deck oled 2.0, considering how much fun I am having playing everything from the 2010s on my Deck right now.
The other benefit of this is you can usually play older games on maxed out settings (PC). I would barely run Crysis on my PC when it came out, but when I finally got to it few years later (and with newer computer) it was easily maxed out and looked amazing (and it still does even today).
I mean, this plan is the best plan. Ubisoft games go on sale almost instantly and the ultimate editions are sub $50 within 3-6 months. I’ll just go back to my Balatro trance and check this out in 2025.
As long as those editions are optional, I think it's okay for there to be choices. They make absurd collector's editions because they always sell, always!
On the other hand, the failure rate of AAA games is at an all-time high. So it's a huge risk to buy a 1.0 of anything based on a carefully edited trailer.
Honestly, it's the failure rate and quick fizzle out that's got me waiting with any game.
Bethesda and Starfield did it to me. Still feel bamboozled by buying that day one. I love RPGs, I love space, I love crafting, but it just fell so damn flat. And then all the rhetoric and displeasure of Dragon's Dogma 2 and mtx. It's a no for me.
But then again, I have a hard time splitting from my money since I don't have a lot of disposable income, so I prefer to make the wisest ROI choice I can.
God I'm glad I don't like star wars anymore. It'd suck if ubisoft put out a game I actually wanted to play, and ruin the easiest boycott ever for me (by making it harder).