Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

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Mutive
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Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#1 Post by Mutive »

Hi everyone!

I've been working on a game and had a few questions regarding releasing it all at once or on a chapter by chapter basis.

As creators, has anyone done this before? How has it worked? Do you have any recommendations on best practices?

As players, is this something that you like? Is this something you dislike? Why/why not?

(I can see the advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. As a positive, releasing individual chapters means we can get at least part of the game out faster. It also means that later parts of the game can incorporate feedback. We can also charge less for a small portion of the game to allow players who might be hesitant to see if they like it before committing to the entire product.

As disadvantages, I can see it being frustrating to play part of a game and not 100% know when the next part will come out - or whether the game will even eventually be finished. But I'm curious what other things all of you come up with!)
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Re: Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#2 Post by parttimestorier »

Mutive wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 11:23 am As disadvantages, I can see it being frustrating to play part of a game and not 100% know when the next part will come out - or whether the game will even eventually be finished.
This pretty much sums up how I feel as a player. I understand the reasons that developers might prefer to release something episodically, but I'm very unlikely to play it myself until it's complete. I've been disappointed in the past when I started to really enjoy a project that was still in development, only for it to eventually be cancelled - or to just take so long for the next part to come out that I've forgotten what was going on in the story. I prefer to wait and read it all at once.
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Re: Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#3 Post by RicharDann »

This is something I've been considering myself.

So far I'm all for releasing the complete game, even if it takes longer. The reason is pretty much what's been described above. There are certainly advantages to updating your game periodically or making multi-part games, but as a player I'm not often drawn into playing an "incomplete" version of a game I don't know when or if will be finished. I am also not a fan of cliffhanger endings, which episodic media tends to have, though in many cases they can be done well.

As developer, there's also the problems that might rise when you want to make player choices matter between episodes, or ensure players can continue from they left of when a new chapter is released, it needs more careful planning and makes adding new features difficult, depending on the scope and the type of game. Another thing to keep in mind is how many episodes you plan your game to have, and how long should they be. A 2 or 3 part game is a reasonable number, but add more than that and people might think it's too long and be less assured that it will be finished sooner, unless your chapters are really short.

Not to say that a good episodic game can't be created. You can for example make it so each chapter can stand on its own, having most of its plot resolved in a satisfying way for the player while still leaving some loose ends that are continued in future episodes. The Ace Attorney series, while released as full game, is divided in chapters that can be enjoyed as individual but connected stories. Not every plot can benefit from this structure, but it might be a good way for it to work.
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Re: Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#4 Post by Elsa Kisiel »

As a player, I don't like to buy games chapter by chapter. Since I don't know how many chapters there will be, I don't know how much it would cost in the end. I also don't know when/if the game will be finished.

As a developer, I don't like it because I'm not that good at coding. I'm not sure I will find an easy way to keep the player choices from one chapter to the next one. (Except from asking the player to copy/paste a string of letters and number, but that's not the user experience I want to offer.) Also, if someone buy a few chapters : when the first one is finished, will the next one start automatically ? I don't want the player to have to quit the game in order to launch the next one. Especially if the chapters are shorts.
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Re: Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#5 Post by Mutive »

Elsa Kisiel wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 11:17 am Also, if someone buy a few chapters : when the first one is finished, will the next one start automatically ? I don't want the player to have to quit the game in order to launch the next one. Especially if the chapters are shorts.
I believe it's not too hard to do this. (I haven't looked into how, but honestly can't see incorporating a sequential launch without being able to run all existing chapters into one larger arc ala Kentucky Route Zero or Arcade Spirits.)
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Re: Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#6 Post by Chiagirl »

I do not buy episodic releases. Even if the game looks interesting I will wait until it's finished at which point the chapters are often put together in a bundle which saves tons of money in the long run. But many episodic games never actually get finished. The plot also tends to feel less cohesive and thought out do to the difficulty with going back and editing older chapters. Once you publish an episode it's hard to go back and revise it if you want to make edits based on the direction of later chapters as that can mess up people's saves and sense of the story. (Think of it like writing a novel - would you send your first draft to the publisher, or go through several revisions first?) It feels almost as money grubbing as microtransactions honestly, can you imagine if you were expected to pay to read each individual chapter of a novel?

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Re: Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#7 Post by Mutive »

Chiagirl wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 4:22 pm can you imagine if you were expected to pay to read each individual chapter of a novel?
I can as many novels were released this way. :) (Think Dickens) Love it or hate it, serial releases do have a long history behind them.

(I also read a lot of comics which also tend to be released serially.)
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Re: Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#8 Post by Chiagirl »

Mutive wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:30 am
Chiagirl wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 4:22 pm can you imagine if you were expected to pay to read each individual chapter of a novel?
I can as many novels were released this way. :) (Think Dickens) Love it or hate it, serial releases do have a long history behind them.

(I also read a lot of comics which also tend to be released serially.)
That is wild to me. I have read fanfictions and stuff released piece meal because that's pretty much the way of the medium, but I truly don't understand why people would want to pay for something that isn't finished and may never be. It's not like there's a shortage of books to choose from, and you can get them for free just by going to the library. But then again I'm also the type of person who doesn't buy games on release because I know the price will fall significantly if I wait a few years, so maybe I just have bag lady syndrome.

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Re: Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#9 Post by Imperf3kt »

Chiagirl wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:22 pm
Mutive wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:30 am
Chiagirl wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 4:22 pm can you imagine if you were expected to pay to read each individual chapter of a novel?
I can as many novels were released this way. :) (Think Dickens) Love it or hate it, serial releases do have a long history behind them.

(I also read a lot of comics which also tend to be released serially.)
That is wild to me.
If you've ever paid for a subscription service (Patreon, netflix, hulu, etc), VOD (video on demand) service, PPV (pay per view) service or watched a regular TV series that you buy in DVD/bluray box sets or digital download, bought a magazine with a "part two next issue", bought a book that comes from a series (Lord of the Rings? Harry Potter?) etc then you've essentially been subjected to the exact same marketing technique. The difference between my examples and your examples is one is professionally made, the other is amateur or indie, so you expect one is more likely to be finished or worthwhile than the other, but that's not always the case (TV series get cancelled, DVD releases get cancelled, books fail to sell, streaming services remove media when their license runs out or may not even have all seasons (Looking at you Netflix, only have one season of Spongebob!) etc)


Personally I don't mind serially released things, they can be done well and even though you might get a discount by waiting to buy the bundle, you have to wait for all episodes to be released and try to avoid spoilers in the meantime, and sometimes you can buy the discounted version up front in the form of a "season pass". Tell-tale games did this strategy well. (until they went bankrupt)

While I do prefer to buy things outright and not part by part, they can be done well and aren't always a money grab (some release the later chapters free or for a minimal charge)
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Mutive
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Re: Chapter vs. Whole Game Release

#10 Post by Mutive »

Imperf3kt wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:33 pm
Personally I don't mind serially released things, they can be done well and even though you might get a discount by waiting to buy the bundle, you have to wait for all episodes to be released and try to avoid spoilers in the meantime, and sometimes you can buy the discounted version up front in the form of a "season pass". Tell-tale games did this strategy well. (until they went bankrupt)

While I do prefer to buy things outright and not part by part, they can be done well and aren't always a money grab (some release the later chapters free or for a minimal charge)
Yes, I very much liked Tell-Tale games. I also honestly enjoyed the anticipation of seeing what would happen in the next chapter of "Kentucky Route Zero". (I think it helped that each arc felt like it could exist even if the next ones were never completed...helpful in the case of KR0 considering the delay between some of the chapter releases!) To me, at least, it very much did not feel like a money grab. (Other than, ~*maybe*~ in the sense that without the creators being funded by selling the earlier parts, the later parts likely wouldn't have been able to be made, or at least made as beautifully as they were.)
Enjoy Eidolon, my free to play game at: https://mutive.itch.io/eidolon, Minion! at: https://mutive.itch.io/minion or Epilogue at: https://mutive.itch.io/epilogue

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