GOG, the DRM-free digital marketplace founded by The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red, is "looking at" launching a way to host unfinished games, in the style of Steam Early Access, co-founder Marcin Iwinski told Eurogamer.
Although GOG and Steam have different approaches to what appears in their stores, GOG is "obviously looking at it" and how it might fit into the company's curated model, Iwinski said.
"As you know our concept is different," he said. "First of all it's DRM-free and second it's curated. I'm often very lost in a lot of stores — apps being my example today. Or even Steam. I don't know what's happening. There's hundreds of releases a month, and I really believe — and our community's clearly showing that — there is a place for a platform which is choosing the stuff."
According to Iwinski, if GOG does it, it will do so in the spirit under which GOG was founded.
"We would definitely consider it," he said, "but again it would be the GOG way. It would have to be curated and, we believe — we are always saying this very openly — we are responsible in front of the gamer for what they're buying on GOG."
Among the many things to consider, the co-founder believes that some form of consumer protection might be necessary.
"If you would do it, it would have to have some kind of protection, because consumers are coming, they are seeing certain promise," he said. "Of course it's like, 'Hey it's alpha,' but the little devil inside your head is saying, 'Ooh I want to play. It looks so cool in the screens', and you don't know that [you will be] unhappy.
"If you're unhappy and they're constantly updating it, that's fine, but if you're unhappy and they just took your money and ran away like typical hit and run … There is somebody who has to be on the hook for it, and I really think this should be the case."
For an example of how consumers may need protected, be sure to read our coverage of Earth: Year 2066, which Valve removed from Early Access this month.
Comments
Am I the only one who didn’t know GOG was founded by CD Projekt Red?
By eabarth on 05.19.14 10:58am
I’m sure a few members of deep Amazon tribes are with you on this one. Pretty elite club.
By His Master's Voice on 05.19.14 12:21pm
I should have never left the jungle.
By eabarth on 05.19.14 3:58pm
Good unreleased and unfinished games?
By oldmanlight on 05.19.14 1:44pm
You should read the polygon article about why good games dont have to be finished.
http://www.polygon.com/2014/1/24/5338478/early-access-exposes-the-lie-that-the-best-games-should-or-even-can
By Ian Pickert on 05.19.14 1:49pm
That’s entirely subjective. I don’t play Starbound, DayZ, or Rust, because when I pay money for a game, I expect it to be in a presentable, working state (but if you don’t mind, then more power to you I suppose).
What does this mean? This means I don’t want to find broken or (arguably worse) missing mechanics. I want all the animations to work properly. If it’s an online game, I want stable servers. If there’s player interaction, I want to see a proper system to handle hackers and bug abusers. If there’s a really awesome concept, I want to see it fully realized instead of only being given a prototype of it. These are all things that early access implies, with varying experiences depending on what title you want to talk about. I want a game, not a mess of a sickly program gasping and limping with a shiny gem taped to its forehead.
At the very least, retailers need to distinctly separate early access titles from release titles. They are detrimental to indie developers who put in countless hours to complete a title and are living on an incredibly tight budget, because they’re forced to directly compete with the games developers whipped up in three weeks to shove out a broken survival game.
TL;DR: Good game ideas don’t have to be finished. Good games need to be finished, and there needs to be a distinction between early access and released titles.
By Assassin0795 on 05.19.14 7:59pm
I like the humor behind the image above.
By tommy_beast on 05.19.14 3:00pm