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[@EMOTIONTHEORY]

Hi all! I'm a solo indie dev and my recent game which got greenlit is Super Shield, an action arcade game that is like a mix of Super Hexagon and Bit Trip Beat. You basically move a rotational pong-like paddle and frantically deflect incoming particle effects to great visual and audio flair.



My final goal aims for a much improved visual / audio experience, with 3 game modes at a price tag of somewhere between $5-10USD ($10USD would get you the soundtrack - thoughts on pricing are welcome!).

The game modes are:

• Campaign (choreographed levels - think Bit Trip Beat or Duet)
• Endless (survival / score attack - last until you lose with Leaderboards.)
• Zen (play for fun & for the lovely visuals)

Check out the Super Shield greenlight page to see more of what the game is like.

At this point I'm wondering if Early Access would be a good thing for me. Close friends and family have said YES, but I'd like to have the community sway me to the idea with your experiences (providing examples would really helpful!).

Here are my personal points in favour of each one.

Early Access: YES

• As a small title and my first product to appear on Steam (a big commercial milestone for me), the experience of doing an Early Access would be immense.
• While this is a *small* game, the number of levels will take a bit of time (feedback would be great!) and so will tuning the Endless mode. Doing Early Access might help tide things over a bit during that time.
• Player feedback as mentioned would be invaluable, even critical to the success of the game.
• Valve seems to recommend it for all games, pushing the idea that "this is how games should be made". I personally agree. Thoughts?

Early Access: NO

• This title would be priced on the cheaper side. Would players feel negative towards it (Why is a small / cheap game in Early Access)?
• While Super Hexagon & Bit Trip Beat were both released on Steam, they were also mobile games. I've had a few comments on the Greenlight page about this game suiting mobile; often said with a negative connotation. As much as this game (particularly this PC version) is hoping to be as gorgeous and visually dazzling as possible, would players feel negative towards it (Particularly of its initial stage)?

When I say "would players feel negative towards it?" what I'm really asking is, in your experience, would players avoid this game altogether? (An example case study as a basis for your response would be incredibly helpful)

The game will obviously communicate what it is, what it hopes to be, and why the game is in Early Access - so I feel players would have a fairly good idea of what to expect if they buy the game. If they're unhappy, they can always refund the game, I suppose.

So anyway, I've told my story. I'd really love to know the community's thoughts. Thanks for reading this and giving your input, it's really appreciated!

[Kevinfu510]

TL;DR i think you shouldn't do it, unless you plan to expand the game further than 3 game modes/more levels and features.


The main point of doing an "Early Access" game is that you will be able to gain revenue,feedback and update your game at the same time...

by the looks of it, your game is pretty much complete? and genres of games that do well with "Early Access" (according to my experience) are RPG games, or games that have LOTS of content in mind.. (no offence, not saying your game has no content)

"Player feedback as mentioned would be invaluable, even critical to the success of the game."
you could offer some/certain people access to your game as game testers.. you can even use TigSource for that! (under "Playtesting")

"This title would be priced on the cheaper side. Would players feel negative towards it (Why is a small / cheap game in Early Access)?"
yes, that would be a slight problem, but if it's cheap... some steam users would buy anything just so that his/her steam account get's "acknowledged"; So it's not that BIG of a problem, and also good reviews and comments can counter that effect! 

hope this helps! :D

[MeerkatGaming]

We were on the fence with going the Early Access route for similar reasons. In the end, we have decided to pursue that release model but we want to make sure we do it correctly. Way too many indie games fly the "Early Access" banner far too long and attempt to utilize this as an excuse for critical bugs or lackluster gameplay.

Our progression is broken down into three main sections. However, the third is as expansive, if not more so than the first two. Because of this, we plan to release the first two in the finished state as Early Access and then add in the final part when complete. Ideally, if we are generating enough revenue during that time, we would allocate a portion into a second pass at the released content to expand or improve upon it while the remaining game is being completed.

If you do go the early access route, just make sure your players have enough content to keep them entertained long enough to be around for the remaining parts or they may forget about you and abandon the game. A loyal community is more valuable than a few extra early access sales.