Demo vs Early Access

[Yunru]

Wich one do you trust more?

Lets say the game in making is the same.
Demo team trows out a free demo and you try it. (remember, demo only has araund 10-30 min of gameplay usualy)
A good example would be a neverhood demo:


Early access ask you for the money (99% of time) to try the unfinished game. They kinda use you as a free tester. Cough cough, warhammer (and not even playeable , just a promise).


Bonus for demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QM6LoaqEnY

So in the end...wich game do you prefer buying?

[Ghostile]

I'm all for demos. That's why I... get my hands on a game before actually paying anything.

[Rixis]

I see the merits to both, but I personally prefer not to buy early access releases. You're not helping with your bias though, linking good examples of demos, whilst giving a "problem with early access" video.

[Yunru]

I see the merits to both, but I personally prefer not to buy early access releases. You're not helping with your bias though, linking good examples of demos, whilst giving a "problem with early access" video.

Gota stay 50:50

Bouth things have upsides and downsides. Demo wins for me tho by the upsides.

[Orange Joe]

I don't see how they are comparable. Demo's let you test a very limited portion of the game before you decide to buy it. Early access is a head start for a game you have already purchased.

[zealo]

I would never buy a demo.

If its in early access i am cautious and research what i actually get before buying, there are a lot of bad apples with an early access label but there are also products which might as well could have done a full release without issues.

[Deleted]

I prefer Youtube videos about gameplay and written reviews. The game really needs to be something to get me hyped and if it doesn't, Im not going to bother with demo or playing some buggy beta version.

[Yunru]

I don't see how they are comparable. Demo's let you test a very limited portion of the game before you decide to buy it. Early access is a head start for a game you have already purchased.

Demo:
*doesnt cost
*gives you a limited gameplay, and if you want more you need to buy a whole game
*buggy
*keeps you waiting for a full realise
*it can show you its worth the money or wortless
*demo can trick you that the game is worth the money, while the original product is bad
*if the game gets canceled, you can stil play demo



Early
*costs
*gives you a gameplay, however its usualy not fully finished
*buggy
*allows you to play, but it can cause a lose of interest due to bugs
*you already spend money on it and you cant ask for a refund (usualy) if its bad.
*you have to wait for the game to be finished to max and you cant experience it fully, however a developer can stop making it for XXX reason and show you a finger, so in the end you have a demo of a game you payed for
*if the game gets canceled, the only way to get it is to pre-spend money on it

And probaly more stuff.

- - - Updated - - -

I prefer Youtube videos about gameplay and written reviews. The game really needs to be something to get me hyped and if it doesn't, Im not going to bother with demo or playing some buggy beta version.

What is those are not avaible?
Rember the colonial marines, where users got a better version of a glorified demo and put on a good revievs?
It was a disaster.

[Hellfury]

Neither.

Shareware, probably almost none remembers it.

[Fencers]

A game demo and early access to a game are not the same thing. They are not comparable. Nether even has the same goals necessarily.

The comparison is faulty. And further, consumer-centric.

[Dezerte]

I don't like paying for EA-games, not unless I have otherwise tried it (e.g. trial key, friend, etc). And buying demos? That's just ridiculous.

[Deleted]

I would never pay for a demo.

Paying for early access is something I don't support.

[Yunru]

A game demo and early access to a game are not the same thing. They are not comparable. Nether even has the same goals necessarily.

The comparison is faulty. And further, consumer-centric.

It is same. One gives you less for free and other gives you more for $$$.
Its realy a mather of taste.
Not unlike 3rd thing where you dont see a game till its finished and the final product is glorified by adds. Wich is the most common way selling the game.
...dont let me start with preoders.....

[Karon]

It is same. One gives you less for free and other gives you more for $$$.
Its realy a mather of taste.
Not unlike 3rd thing where you dont see a game till its finished and the final product is glorified by adds. Wich is the most common way selling the game.
...dont let me start with preoders.....

since when is the demo, a small part of an finished product, the same as the full version of the unfinished product?

[Fencers]

It is same. One gives you less for free and other gives you more for $$$.
Its realy a mather of taste.
Not unlike 3rd thing where you dont see a game till its finished and the final product is glorified by adds. Wich is the most common way selling the game.
...dont let me start with preoders.....

No. A demo is strictly a promotional aid with limited play. Early access to a game is a buy-in to profit the developer with unlimited play subject to readiness.

In one instance I am getting a marketing tool, in the other I have bought a service.

[Yunru]

No. A demo is strictly a promotional aid with limited play. Early access to a game is a buy-in to profit the developer with unlimited play subject to readiness.

In one instance I am getting a marketing tool, in the other I have bought a service.

Early access is also promotional. It shows more than demo.
A streamer of a early game would spend more time on free advertising, than demo wich is shorter.

When it comes to showing up a gameplay, the early wins. However it can also have a negative effect due to a streamer spoting a bug and can cause less people to buy a game later. When it comes to demos, they are usualy with no bugs if posible.

[Fencers]

Early access is also promotional. It shows more than demo.

Early access can be promotional. But no more so than a released game.

By buying into the early access one has already been successfully marketed to; one has bought the service.

A demo is strictly a promotional tool. There is no sale occurring and no guarantee of sale. The demo exists purely as a marketing tool for the purchase of service. One has not successfully been marketed to via demo.

[Rixis]

Early access can help to make the final release better. A streamer finds a bug, they can report it and the developer can fix it so it's not there in the released version. This is basically a "down with early access" thread though, so why bother.

[Edge-]

Yeah...demo's and early access are two vastly different things.

Demo's exist purely as promotional tools to give people a taste of a game in an attempt to secure a sale. It costs nothing for the consumer (or than some time), and has no impact on the game itself.

Early access exists as a point of sale, you cannot play the game unless you purchase it at whatever the listed price is. While in a sense, a game being early access is promotional, that is not the sole purpose of early access games. Early access games exist to help the developer generate sales while the game is being finished, usually to allow them the funds necessary to finish the game. It additionally affords consumers an opportunity to help shape the finished product, reporting bugs and providing feedback as necessary to improve the game for launch. This doesn't always happen, as you have games that are either abandoned in early access or that fail to deliver on their promises, but that's an inherent risk with buying any unfinished product and it is beholden on the consumer to do adequate research before purchasing something.

So you can't really directly compare the two, as they have different goals.