I remember a far off time long long ago when beta software was for testing, and not used to generate hype for a product. See, software goes through different phases in development. The first build of a video game that could be played from start to finish is commonly referred to as the alpha build. The first feature complete (though still buggy) build is typically known as the beta build. The beta build, while feature complete, is often riddled with flaws and bugs of all shapes and sizes. As such, developers used to release it for testing purposes to the loyalest of loyal community members, and die hard fans of their product. These “beta testers” as they were once known would use the hell out of the software, and report any and all issues to the developer, for which, the developer was grateful. Recently, something has changed.

Developers have recently started treating beta tests of their software like exclusive demos, and furthermore, they’ve started milking them for all the publicity they can - just look at all the littlebigplanet beta giveaways going on all over the internet (our site included). This is sort of a double edged sword - devs get publicity, and gamers get early access to popular games - what could possibly be bad about that? Well, for one, you used to have to be either heavily involved in the community surrounding a game, or have a good rep as a beta tester to get into a beta. This was because you were there to test the game out, and find the bugs in order to help the developers polish the final product. Now, all you need to get into most betas is an email address. The average gamer isn’t going to take the time to file a bug report. Upon finding a bug, they’ll utter a long string of swear words that will end with “this game’s messed up yo!” and never touch the game again.  Now that gamer has a bad opinion of the game, and the developer didn’t get feedback on the bug. This hurts the finished product in more than one way. Gamers who participated in the beta and ran into bugs in the code may now have a bad taste in their mouth towards the game, and the devs might not know about every bug in the beta build of the game due to a lack of interest on the gamer’s part.

It’s not all gloom and doom though. Developers do spend a lot of time and money on quality assurance - there are offices full of game testers whose job it is to play the same game day in and day out, sometimes for over twelve hours a day in order to find all the bugs in the code. Still, I have to ask myself, is the publicity really worth it to the developer? Would it be better to go back to a time when betas were for testing and not publicity? What do you think?

-Mike Kurz

Tags: beta, Game Design, Game Industry

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