Kickstarter Died? Your Early Access Needs This Loop.
Kickstarter Died? Your Early Access Needs This Loop.
Kickstarter used to be the indie dev’s holy grail. Funding dreams, building hype, and launching games. Now? It’s a minefield. Early Access, done right, is the new Kickstarter, offering funding and crucial feedback. But “done right” is the key.
Early Access: The New Funding Frontier
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Think of Early Access as a continuous Kickstarter campaign. Players pay to get in early, expecting influence and iterative development. It’s not a demo; it’s a partnership.
Too many devs treat Early Access as a dumping ground for half-finished code. They launch, get negative reviews, and the game dies. The key is a tight “Feedback-Development-Release” loop.
The Feedback-Development-Release Loop
This loop is your lifeline. It’s how you build a community, improve your game, and ultimately succeed. It involves actively soliciting feedback, prioritizing it effectively, and visibly implementing changes.
Building Your Community: More Than Just Discord
A Discord server is table stakes. You need active community management. Ask targeted questions. Run polls. Host playtests.
Don’t just wait for feedback to come to you. Proactively seek it out. Post regular development updates (devlogs). Show your progress. Transparency builds trust.
One common pitfall is failing to engage with negative feedback. Address concerns directly, even if you disagree. Explain your reasoning. Silence breeds resentment.
Prioritizing Feedback: What Matters Most?
You’ll be flooded with feedback. Not all of it is good, or even relevant. Focus on recurring themes and critical bugs.
Implement a system for tracking feedback. Use a tool like a Trello board, or even a dedicated spreadsheet. Categorize feedback (bugs, feature requests, balance issues). Prioritize based on impact and frequency.
Don’t get bogged down in pleasing everyone. Some suggestions will be contradictory. Trust your vision, but be willing to adapt based on consensus.
Implementing Changes: Show, Don’t Just Tell
Releasing updates is only half the battle. You need to communicate what you’ve changed and why.
Include detailed patch notes with each update. Highlight the feedback you addressed. Explain your design decisions.
Record before-and-after videos showcasing improvements. Show players that their feedback is being heard and acted upon.
One common mistake is promising too much and delivering too little. Be realistic about your scope and timeline. Over-promising leads to disappointment and negative reviews.
Avoiding Common Early Access Pitfalls
- Launching Too Early: Ensure your game is stable and has a core gameplay loop before launching.
- Ignoring Feedback: Actively engage with your community and address their concerns.
- Lack of Communication: Keep players informed about your progress and plans.
- Scope Creep: Avoid adding too many features and losing focus.
- Treating it as a Demo: Early Access is about collaborative development, not just showcasing a finished product.
The Early Access Workflow
- Pre-Launch: Build a community (Discord, forums, social media). Prepare a system for tracking feedback.
- Launch: Release a stable build with a core gameplay loop. Announce your Early Access intentions clearly.
- Feedback: Actively solicit feedback through surveys, polls, and community interactions.
- Prioritize: Categorize and prioritize feedback based on impact and frequency.
- Implement: Develop and test changes based on prioritized feedback.
- Release: Release updates with detailed patch notes and communication about the changes made.
- Repeat: Continuously iterate on the game based on feedback until it’s ready for full release.
To truly understand the impact of your changes and the evolution of your game, documentation is key. You need to remember why you made certain design decisions. Why did you choose one mechanic over another? What feedback led you down a particular path?
Keeping a game development journal will provide invaluable insights as you navigate the Early Access process. It allows you to track your progress effectively, remember your thought processes, and learn from your mistakes. Many indie devs overlook documenting their journey, and that’s a mistake.
A consistent game dev log can be a gold mine when you are trying to diagnose bugs and performance problems in a very complex game. In addition, keeping a consistent log makes it easier to remember key design decisions. If you’re looking for a simple, focused tool to help you document every step of your game’s development, check out our game development journal: document your game development journey.