Games being released today in an almost beta like state is unfortunately a common occurrence, turning us all into some kind of unpaid beta testers, frustratingly playing through unfinished adventures that are slowly but surely improved by the developers as they go along.
Fortunately, things have gotten a little better in recent years, and perhaps we get a good explanation for why from Paradox deputy chief executive officer Mattias Lilja, who declares in a Rock Paper Shotgun interview that gamers don’t have the same acceptance of broken games anymore:
“It’s also based on the fact that we, in all transparency, see that fans right now, with a squeezed budget for games, have higher expectations, and are less accepting that you will fix things over time. That’s our take.”
In a short time, Paradox has postponed both Prison Architect 2 and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, which is a sign that they are serious about the decision, and perhaps we are heading towards an era where games will need to be in at least a little better shape at release than we have become accustomed to over the past five years of countless downright disastrous launches.