Early Access/Founders programs and the legal recourse of the consumer

from Stardock Forums

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of early access offers on Steam, many from companies I’ve never heard of. It got me thinking, what if any legal recourse do consumers have if these companies don’t follow through on their promise to deliver, or they produce a game, promising features A through Z but the final game only has features A though G.

It seems to me almost like mini crowd sourcing or kick starter program. I also get visions of potential vaporware from the 1990’s. Anyone can get some marketing people to write copy, and a graphic designer to draw up some concept art, post it on Steam, offer early access at some point in the future, and then never deliver claiming that the endeavor failed…and then change their username, use a different PC to get a new IP address, and then do it over again with a new game.

It just seems to have substantial potential for abuse.

Your thoughts?

19,241 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

I agree with you on that. Which is why I am very careful about where I put my money. Its sad that we have to suspect ones of doing things like this because there are legitemate ones out there that are just trying to break into the game making business. This is why research is so very important.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

I'm certain Valve would sort things out if Steam Early Access was in jeopardy because of some abusers.

It's not all bad though. If people get burned, they smarten up and are more careful the next time.

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

There is potential for fraud in pretty much everything these days. Crowd funding is a risk just like the stock market, or any other kind of investment. If it succeeds then you reap the rewards, but if it fails then.. oh well. The difference is you just lose what you invested. That is why it is important to do your research before making your investment. Check to see if the person/s making the project are legit.

The only crowd funded project i invested in so far is Planetary Annihilation. Why? because they had something tangible to offer, and the developers have a long history of producing good games. Now that the gamma is out i can safely say i am reaping the rewards of my investment. I am considering investing in Star Citizen for the very same reasons.

However some of the crowd funding prices do seem a little ridiculous. Like 99 bucks for early access for games where the first line of code isn't even written yet. Like what was said earlier. They show some concept art, and a game summery. If you want to fund your game then start small. 15-20 bucks is more than reasonable for an early investment to get you going. Then when you get your product up, and running. With a working demo. THEN talk about offering your "supreme" 99 dollar packages.

IF a project does fail. Then the developer/s (if they are truly reputable) "should" reimburse the people that invested as best as they can. However if it's a small time, or single person developer i wouldn't hold my breath on that, because he/she is probably developing this in his/her home pc.

Again, It is all about risk. Do your research, and buyer beware. There is great potential in crowd funding. If it is done right.