Have you ever bought and played a new game only to find out it has a strange glitch? Or perhaps unbelievable lag that causes you to die without end? Maybe you can’t even get the game to start? Don’t worry – you’re not alone.
Gamers are finding themselves in this position all too often lately. From Halo: The Master Chief Edition to Assassin’s Creed Unity to GTA Online’s initial blunders – since when did the quality of these games become merely a “patchable” fix and not a properly tested product?
It isn’t to say every game release should be perfect and sometimes we don’t want them to be (where would our society be without the GTA IV swingset glitch?). Many factors come into play when a game is released such as deadlines to get games on store shelves, lack of testing or improper QA testing, and bandwidth issues. I do not mean to blame any particular video game developer, but rather point out the trials and issues they must deal with on a daily basis.
Imagine you have to write a flawless, 100 page essay that’s fact checked, free of any grammatical errors, and must be printed in a pretty, but legible font. Any issues found with the document and your grade and reputation among your classmates drops – that’s kind of what developers have to deal with. The danger, however, comes when we accept the issues as the norm and do not question its process.
If a car manufacturer knew they had faulty brakes from the start, it would be reckless for them to push it out the door and hope to offer people a free brake change. You can bet there would be refunds and recalls. Of course, an unplayable game isn’t as serious as a car accident, but you get the point. A product should never be released with the intention of it breaking from the start.
What can companies do to prevent broken video games? Releasing demos and beta versions of the game to the general public can be a great start. Multiplayer betas and demos are a great way of testing out portions of the software without having to give away the whole thing. These betas can help stress test servers and online bandwidth. This valuable information is what led some games to have very successful day 1 launches (Halo 3 and Halo Reach’s multiplayer beta releases are prime examples of utilizing a beta to have a strong day one launch).
It isn’t a perfect solution, but it’s one that, in this author’s mind, is a start towards less and less buggy and broken video game launches in the future.
Tell us, what do you think can be done to stop broken video games? Do we just stop buying them, or should companies pick up the slack when they’re developing them on top of it? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!