The Demise of Demos?

Do game studios expect people to buy their $100+ game without trying it first? Hmm...

Game demos are provided for the purpose of evaluation. Gamers tend to be picky when it comes purchasing new games, and rightly so. Investing $100 in entertainment is only justifiable if you are truly entertained as a result. Reviews, peer assessment, and genre may perk an interest, but there needs to be a solid foundation to seal the deal. Demonstration releases do this well.

Perhaps it's merely my mind playing tricks, but I've noticed that game demos are becoming less prevalent lately. It appears that every time I seek a demo to decide whether a game is worth purchasing, I end up left empty-handed. A quick web search finds results such as "demo rumours dismissed" for games from large game studios. So why aren't these companies offering potential buyers a piece of the action? If rumours were started in the first place, surely there's still a demand?

In an effort to work out why the lack of demos has become a common affair, I've looked at the alternative options. Probably the most obvious is the humble torrent. It's often that I hear people claim that their use of an illegal copy of a game was in order to 'see if they like it'. Whether this is truly the case is dependant on the person. Nonetheless, the saturation of torrents amongst Internet savvy users may well be the reason why game studios refuse to waste resources on releasing a demo. Unfortunately, if this is the case, it puts those who prefer not to take part in illicit activities in the dark.

Recently there's been an influx of beta releases of games. This provides those who want to try the game a chance to experience the gameplay, whilst helping the developer to iron out potential bugs. This is a win win situation, dispite the possibility that some bugs could render the experience differently to the final release. Alas, betas are still a minority in contrast to the array of game releases. If beta releases were to become mainstream, the need for a demo would become redundant. The only downside is that betas tend to be considerably larger in size than a demo. For those who have limited Internet quota, this can be off-putting.

Indie games are generally an exception to my observation. Most come with a demo to showcase why their game is worth it. Ironically, those games are also the cheapest to purchase. From this we can conclude that peoples perception of a publisher/game studio has an effect on sales. An indie game team is yet to prove their worth, whilst big players such as Electronic Arts are already popular. Is this why the need for game demos has since passed consideration?

Another aspect is the sheer amount of squeals being offered. It's assumed that people who enjoyed the previous games will feel compelled to purchase the next, and therefore no need for a demo becomes apparent. Unluckily, many gamers are becoming intollerant with the quality of popular game sequals which bare no resemblance to their predecessors. But that's grounds for another discussion altogether!

What would be a nice change is to see an influx of beta releases. Demo's are great, but betas are better. Bugs can be patched quicker, the user gets to muck around and get a feel for the game, and the final release is bound to be a better product as a result. Now, if only this would catch on, in addition to eradicating Digital Rights Management... :)