Game Demos cost too much to develop

Blix · 04-17-2010, 08:27 PM

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/17/cr...ely-expensive/

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...ree-game-demos

Quote:

He said: “A free demo is a luxury we have in the game industry that we don’t have in other industries such as film. Because we’ve had this free luxury for so long, now there are plans to change this people are complaining about it. The reality is that we might not see any free game demos in the long term.”

This is a new thing to me. I wasn't aware of EA actually planning to sell demos but I read now about Crytek planning to do so and they point at EA saying they had plans to do so too. They point out things like piracy costing them lots of money/. But really, a demo is something they do to promote the game and get people excited about it. Players are more prone to buying a game after they have played a demo (if it was good, ofcouse) so I don't see charging for demos as a good idea. They're charging you for their promotion. And the prices they are thinking about is 10 to 15 bucks.

Now seriously, if piracy is a problem, won't the demos get pirated too? At least in PC you can get any game if you look hard enough. You have to work in breaking the security code and stuff some times but I've seen friends find the games they want. And if you buy the demo for $10 or $15, then what is the final cost of the game. I really think they shouldn't make demos if they can't afford it. But selling them is just irrational IMO.

Now, what truly interest me about this article is the fact that even the big companies are having a hard time making money in an industry that is recession-proof and I don't see an end to this trend. 2k games was about to be bought by EA some years ago and if companies keep going down, or struggling, where will the industry be be in a few years? I blame it on the over-blown focus on graphics and Piracy. I don't care about new graphics engines anymore and can barely stand the graphic whores (although I've noticed a decrease of these type of players. Or maybe I don't go to the right places anymore). And I know a lot of friends of mine who truly follow the industry and like the game companies of the games they pirate and the console makers but even that won't stop them from flashing their consoles to play illegal copies of games. It's like people don't even want to support the companies making these games anymore and have become kleptomaniacs that even download games they don't plan on playing. It's absurd!

Your thoughts?

gekko · 04-18-2010, 12:00 AM

I also consider the expense to be part of the marketing effort. Although, I do see a difference between a pre-release showing of a film, and a game demo. Paying to see a film before release gives you the entire entertainment experience for your dollar. So unless they are considering selling me rights to play the game a week early, I don't consider it to be the same.

uber_paddler · 04-18-2010, 12:02 AM

I love how they're trying to spin demos as a service they're providing for us out of the goodness of their hearts. Nice try, guys, but we all know demos are more important to you(publishers) than they are to us.

Bube · 04-19-2010, 03:58 AM

By "demo", do they mean only the first level of a 20-hour game? That's what demos were in my time

If they're seriously thinking about charging money for something like this, then the gaming industry should close it's doors right now.

Vampyr · 04-19-2010, 09:03 AM

Would never pay that much for a demo. The time it takes to download the demo is about all I'm willing to spend.

And what is he on about, other industries not having demos? Movie trailers? Amazon lets you read -several- pages out of a book, itunes gives you 30 seconds of a song, software companies give you 30 day trials.

Almost every part of the entertainment industry has the concept of free demos.

Angrist · 04-20-2010, 10:17 AM

Pff, how much does it really cost to develop a demo? The content of the demo is ALWAYS in the final game! It's not like they have to develop it separately...

magus113 · 04-20-2010, 12:26 PM

The only demo I've seen recently that was different than the final product to be honest was God of War III and that was because it was pretty much almost a year old.

The engine was a lot less smoother in the final product and the game was just different by the time they got to that point in the final game.

KillerGremlin · 04-20-2010, 05:08 PM

Do we really need demos? This is what the bajillion gaming sites with videos, pictures, previews and reviews are for. Demos are an archaic remnant of days past. You found game demos loaded on the game you bought and they were there in an attempt to get you to buy more games.

Seriously, demos? Who cares and who in their sane mind would pay for a demo? The only way I could see paying for a demo working is if the money you put towards a demo was a deposit towards the actual game itself.

On the other hand, I fully support Betas. Beta testing is the coolest thing in the world, and I wish more companies would embrace public beta testing. Go Blizzard!

Demos....LOL. This is why I torrent stuff.

Edit: Also, screw EA.

Angrist · 04-21-2010, 12:07 PM

Speaking of Blizzard Beta, I can't wait for SC2 retail!

Blix · 04-23-2010, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

Do we really need demos?The only way I could see paying for a demo working is if the money you put towards a demo was a deposit towards the actual game itself.

On the other hand, I fully support Betas. Beta testing is the coolest thing in the world, and I wish more companies would embrace public beta testing. Go Blizzard!

Demos....LOL. This is why I torrent stuff.

Edit: Also, screw EA.

indeed it would have to be a deposit, otherwise, this plan is sooooo screwed up. And the rest of your post is an example of why I think this thing is not going to work.

Dyne · 04-24-2010, 02:44 AM

Well, to put it in perspective, demos are the lifeblood of the industry.

Without demos, publishers would rarely know what they're getting into. Demos can be a good indication of what final game quality will be like, if only in 10 minutes to an hour.

Also, a lot of developers would be scared to go to a trade show like E3 with their entire game at once. Mass Effect 2 took one of the best parts of their game before it was done, put a bit of resources into polishing it, and it got critical praise before the game even came out.

Demos made solely for the public, though, that's a different story. By the time developers have time to do one of those, they might as well be finishing the game. I can agree with him slightly. But yeah, I've been sold on more than a few games because of their free demos.

In an ideal situation, a developer would be good enough to publish their E3 demo to XBL/PSN. But things rarely run that smoothly.

But yeah, what's next? Paying for video game trailers? Absurd.