Stop Paying Companies To Beta Test Their Games

As you’ve probably noticed, one of the most recent pieces I wrote for the site (other than this one) discussed the changes to Bokura’s plans for testing purchases during Blue Protocol: Star Resonance’s closed beta test. That got me to thinking once again about the shift to paying developers for games before they’re ready to launch.

A beta test is supposed to be a test. Yes, I know that’s not what they really are now. In a lot of cases, they’re more like a soft launch. And as time has gone on, these soft launches with testing mixed in have become a way for companies to make money up front on the game, even free-to-play games. Granted, the gaming community bears a good bit of responsibility for this. We’re a little too quick to throw money down to be first to something. Never mind that that something is likely incomplete, and in the worst case,s may not actually make it out of the gate alive.

But look at where we’re at now. More and more, players are willingly paying to test games, and still, very often, when those games launch, they’re still lacking. And some take an incredibly long time to fix. At which point, MMOs are struggling because only the most stubborn of players have stuck around.

When we, as players, buy into this, we’re telling companies it’s okay if we’re not really getting anything for our money. And, while I know some of us have that kind of money to spend. Let’s be honest, a lot of us don’t.

I’m not saying I don’t want game developers to make money. I absolutely do. And, I admit that the idea of backing a project ahead of time is appealing. We’ve all put money into some Kickstarter projects. And depending on the project, we’d probably all do it again. But, at least in my mind, supporting projects in that way is for companies that don’t have access to funding in any other way. And we all have to be aware that we may never see the actual product. As we all know by now, projects are never guaranteed to be completed.

But in those cases, we’re agreeing that the developer has no other way to fund the creation of the game, and what they’re trying to make sounds appealing enough, we want to believe in it.

On the other hand, when we’re dealing with established companies with plenty of financial backing, we should expect games to be past the testing stages when we drop our cash. (In case you’re wondering, Bokura’s parent company is apparently Tencent. Although Star Resonance is their first offering.)

Of course, live service games are never actually “done”. There will always be more content being added as the story continues and developers conceptualize more ways to keep players in the game. That’s to be expected, and is fine as it builds on the initial project, even if the updates sometimes make a bit of a mess of things.

When that happens, if a game becomes unplayable, we have the option to withhold our money until things are fixed. This is especially true of free-to-play games. We don’t have to buy gems or subscribe to the battle pass. And we shouldn’t if the product isn’t up to scratch.

So, why are we willing to throw money down on games that haven’t even left testing yet, aren’t finalized, and may not even make it out of the gate? Especially to companies with plenty of cash flow? It’s a bit silly on our part, and it gives the impression that companies don’t need to worry all that much about the actual quality of the game. Not if we’re going to pay them for it before it’s even done anyway.

As for the Star Resonance issue… As I stated in my previous post, the best solution I’ve seen for testing shops is for the developer to just provide players with the in-game currency to use during the test. There’s no need for refunds or figuring out other ways to compensate players. The currency and items simply go away when the test is complete. It’s worked fine for other developers.