As promised, some short reflections on the Early Access of Malebolgia:
I had three goals in mind with putting Malebolgia on Early Access. The first is the standard objective of EA, namely to get feedback on gameplay mechanics and to engage with the players on a regular basis. I was however very disappointed in this respect. I only got limited feedback on the Steam forums. That is partly because not that many people bought and played the game. But I think even more than that, it didn't make a great deal of sense to put a single-player and story-focused horror game on EA. A lot of people were apprehensive to buy the game in the first place, because it makes far more sense to wait until it's finished and you can experience the entire story from start to end. Buying it in December to play the final version in May is a bit foolish. There was also no incentive to keep playing it. I had a lot of people buy it at launch, play until the EA limit (which is about halfway through the game), and then not touch it again until the final release. The result is that I did not get any new feedback from those players even when I uploaded new builds. I had no one to tell me whether the update was an improvement or not.
The second objective of EA was to gain visibility and test the waters. In that regard, it was moderately successful. It really helped to create some awareness (though overall still very little), by way of some EA previews and YouTube playthroughs. Most of these were also positive, with players appreciating the atmosphere while giving some of the flaws (like animations or stiff combat) a pass since it the game was unfinished. It helped me identify the strengths and weaknesses of the game. Though, and this refers back to the previous paragraph, I don't think I ever quite managed to polish the weak spots as well as I should have. Largely to my own lack of skill, time and also due to the vague nature of feedback. The EA period further brought in some initial cashflow which helped to fund licenses and other costs, while at the same time tempering my expectations.
Third, EA helped me prepare. Next to giving me some much-needed boosts of confidence with a positive preview, it took some pressure off my shoulders by not making the release a one-shot game. It allowed me to put my project out there without the need to have everything "finished". I could take care of bugs at a less demanding tempo and it gave me time to become familiar with Steam(works), publishing and community engagement. Since this was my first full game release, I found EA invaluable in that regard.
In summary:
- Community feedback and interaction to polish game design was lacking, due to nature of game and small market reach.
- Somewhat reasonable indicator of potential for success.
- EA worked great as prep-time for a novice in game development and publishing.
In the future, I don't think I would go back to Early Access unless the product is more fit for that purpose. I.e. Less focus on story and more something that supports continuous updates without seeing player drop-off. For the type of game Malebolgia is, testing and gameplay iteration should (have been/) be more targeted to a small and dedicated group of testers.
I also want to add that the full release revenue from the first 24hrs was almost twice as much as the combined revenue of six months of EA. Sales are dropping off again now though. The income is incredibly modest in the grand scheme of things. Luckily this has been a hobby project in my spare time. However, the sales have covered all of my past and near-future costs in terms of licenses, devkits, etc. I'm keen to find out how things like the upcoming Summer Sale or (later on) participation in bundles will help.
The outline for the future of Malebolgia is:
- Continuous minor updates to fix bugs or do little tweaks based on feedback from the Steam community forums.
- A more large-scale update is planned to update sound effects and, to the extent feasible, improve animations and combat.
- Mac/Linux versions, possibly combined with that large-scale update.
- Ahead of Summer Sale, I want to introduce Steam trading cards.
- Development of WiiU version for eShop release, probably late Summer or early Fall.
