If you’re unaware, Valve recently updated their Terms of Conditions towards developers in the Early Access section of Steam. Valve state that Early Access is “meant to be a place for games that are in a playable alpha or beta state, are worth the current value of the playable build, and the developer plans to continue to develop for release”.
Steam is the main source of income and user-base for RPG Tycoon and currently on sale as an Early Access title, so I felt it was necessary to have my say on these changes and how RPG Tycoon relates within the new Early Access guidelines as people are often uncertain whether a game is going to make it to that 100% complete stage. As a gamer myself, I fully understand, I’m equally disappointed by the state of some game’s I’ve opted into that are now abandoned or just incomplete.
Rest assured, I DO NOT PLAN FOR THIS TO HAPPEN WITH RPG TYCOON. Now, obviously I cannot promise anything. I’m one person, developing a game and anything could happen, but within my reasonable control I’m doing what I can to get this game finished. As it’s just me working on the game, it’s unlikely that the game won’t get finished as the company has very low overheads and it costs almost nothing to develop. With that said, I initially wanted the game to be done before 2015 however, thanks to your feedback the game has very quickly is grown in scale and I’ve had to change my focus for development a few times to rethink how things work and how the gameplay works. The original design for the game has changed significantly since it first started development and that’s all down to the response from the players within Early Access, the initial funding from the first week of sales alone has helped significantly in improving the overall quality of the game allowing me to purchase software and hardware to make the whole development process easier, better and faster. I’m incredibly grateful of this, which is why it’s important to me that I’m transparent with you.
I’m often in the Steam Forums responding to requests or questions and replying to your tweets and feedback. It’s the whole reason I’m on Early Access in the first place. It’s also why I’m not charging very much, I’m aware development is slow, but I feel that at it’s current price (£3.99) this is an acceptable amount of money to spend on something that isn’t done yet. Whether this price raises or not will depend on the changes that happen to the game and how much it grows. I’ve also recommended plenty of times do not buy RPG Tycoon if you want a finished product, it’s okay to wait it out. I don’t mind and I understand entirely. This is also the reason I’ve done very little promotion or marketing, because it’s not done yet and I don’t want the mass market investing in it at this stage.
I think Early Access means something different to certain people. To me it’s always been a platform to invest in something that has promise and support the developer during development regardless of its current state but understanding that the project may fail. It’s also something that I feel is a great way to get feedback and watch a product grow because of that. Hopefully, I’ve made both of these clear throughout my time on the platform and if not, then I apologise. I’ve tried never to promise anything, but only to mention that there are plans for further development to certain features in the game. I just want to keep improving it until it’s done.
When that will be, I’m not sure, but I’ll try my best to keep at it until it’s something we all love. If that’s not enough for you then don’t purchase the game. It really is okay.
Regards,
SkatanicStudios