I’d like to spend this blog post talking about two games that set my standards when it comes to having an alpha release. These are two games on Steam called Barotrauma and Risk of Rain 2. Despite the similarity between how the dev teams handled their early launch, both games are very different in playstyle. Barotrauma is a 2d survival platform game based around multiplayer with a large number of people manning a submarine on a hostile planet. On the other hand, Risk of Rain 2 is a 3d roguelite game based around single and coop play with up to 4 people. Both are incredibly fun and more than worth it when they go on sale. Despite their current level of polish, both games were initially released in a very bare-bones manner and riddled with bugs. But what lead these games to succeed where so many other modern alpha releases died.
I think that this has absolutely nothing to do with the games that were produced, rather I think that this is all thanks to the dev teams themselves. Both Barotrauma and Risk of Rain 2 have very dedicated dev teams with 3 main qualities. Both dev teams have a development plan with stages and time frames at all points in time. Both dev teams are also in close touch with their communities. They constantly keep the community updated on what they are doing and have healthy dialogs about upcoming and current game features. Finally, the teams all have constant releases. Be it quality of life updates, bug fixes, or small easy modifications to current systems based on feedback. This is probably the recipe to having a good alpha launch.
One thing that I notice about these qualities is that they are all very intertwined and focused mainly on one thing, the community. When a game has an alpha release its success is almost entirely dependent on the community staying with the game for a long time. In order for this to happen I think the dev team needs to follow the 3 qualities I listed. While playing an alpha release the community is there for the game that currently exists or for what they think the game mgiht become. That is why it is important for the developers to be forward with them about what their future plans for the game are. This allows everyone to be on the same page from the begining. It is also important for the devs to value their communtiy and listen thoguh as some ideas might not actually be good for the game or ruin the core of what keeps it fun. Constant releases also help keep the community around because they let them know that the game is still being developed and is going somewhere with a schedule.
I know this isn’t formal and I might not have structured my argument in a good way or have been too convincing. That is why I’d also recommend either getting or looking up Barotrauma and Risk of Rain 2. The differences between their release version and current are stunning. Likewise there are many records of how the games progressed and communications between devs and community. Finally, they are just good games go buy them and hmu for some submarine shenanigans.
