Lately, we’ve seen a lot of video games undergoing alpha releases (aka early access) and it has companies like EA and DICE thinking about an early access model for future titles. In an interview with Gamasutra, Sony’s Adam Boyes has said that his company is considering something similar for PlayStation platforms.
Boyes has revealed that discussions are already underway within Sony, and the company is looking into a number of things before deciding a way forward.
Honestly, we’re working through that right now. We’re figuring out what’s ok. We obviously have our tech requirement checklist that people have to adhere to. So we’re internally discussing, what does that list look like for this? What are the caveats? Stuff like this. So it’s still a project that a lot of minds are considering. No details yet, but it’s something on the top of my mind every day.
In the same interview, Boyes said that Sony is conscious about consumers paying for a game in alpha phase and expecting a complete product, resulting in negative experiences.
Personally, I wouldn’t pay for early access, but there are enough people opting for it for companies to consider a program. Would our readers want to pay for a pre-release product?
[Source: Gamasutra via Game Informer]
