Should Steam Make Demos Mandatory?

[craftiegamer]

Piracy is a big issue around the world, you may have you opinions, but regardless it hurts developers. Many people I know torrent games to see if they are worth buying. Due to the fact games can be deceiving when just looking at pictures on Steam before paying for it why don't we have more demo's to test out the game for a short amount of time. I think that if Steam made it mandatory for developers to have a demo available for new games it could help improve their profits and save our money as consumers. If we see a game we might like, but are not sure to buy, having a demo available might just help you say yes or no. What do you guys think of this idea?

[christianled59]

NO

[dlf]

yes

[Dmon]

I can't help but think Developers would just use the best bits of the game for the demo anyway. It would be deceptive.

 

And in this day and age you can just watch a YouTube video in order to get a look and feel for a game.

[MegaDave91]

Gameplay videos FTW

[Chriz6097]

I never play demos anyways so its not important for me. If I consider a game I either play the beta or find a friend to let me play since I want the full game experience.

[dragosudeki]

Meh, I think piracy truly harms the indie games (because thats what I do to see where they are at).... There are a lot of 'early access' games that need to get regulated. Perhaps add an activity feed for the amount of updates on the game so we can be aware whether its being worked on or not. Or maybe enforce that a big monthly update be mandatory? Especially now that I'm seeing like indie games priced the same as AAA titles.

[The Crazed Child]

I downloaded Wargame: European Escalation not knowing that it was a strategy game. I was hoping that you could drive tanks individually.

[Wferr]

If they incorporated a system that would allow 1hr of gameplay like the ps4 that would be awesome

[Rekx]

I downloaded Wargame: European Escalation not knowing that it was a strategy game. I was hoping that you could drive tanks individually.

Maybe you should have seen some YouTube videos, or looked at the genre :-p

[Snickerzz]

I can't help but think Developers would just use the best bits of the game for the demo anyway. It would be deceptive.

 

And in this day and age you can just watch a YouTube video in order to get a look and feel for a game.

just like a lot of movie trailers, some completly ruin the whole movie because they show so much

[Osmium]

The argument "demos will prevent piracy" is a very flimsy one in my mind. Devs are going to showcase the best parts and I doubt people really pirate it then buy it later. I know SOME do but I think most people who say that don't actually.

[JustTooDank]

Releasing a demo requires extra coding, which requires more time. I can do without it.

What they should actually do is release ACTUAL uncut gameplay. Not the pre-rendered nonsense and "gameplay" from viewing angles that aren't actually achievable in the retail version of the game. If devs did their own let's plays, they could increase sales and maybe make some money on the back end like youtubers of today. Plus you can see the games being played as they were intended.

The one hour thing that Playstation Plus does is a good idea too. But for multiplayer games, that's not really enough time to see the different weapons and whatnot. You wouldn't be able to try any of the gadgets in a game like BF4.

[XTankSlayerX]

A one hour trial (or more) with a 100% save game. So you can look around and what not.

 

Piracy rates would probably plummet

[IDprofile]

NOPE

[euniqe]

I remember the late 90's/early 00's when i used to buy magazines that came with cd's that had like 5 or 6 demo's on them. I found heaps of games that i otherwise never would have taken an interest in that way. Even lots of apps have trial apps these days. There seriously needs to be so many more demo's.

[Humbug]

I think valve should experiment with it to try and ascertain the impact it has on sales. I don't buy the argument that devs will showcase the best parts. What You consider the best part is subjective, and anyway there is No disguising the core gameplay mechanics. You would typically enjoy a demo far less than the full game in which You have a chance to get deeper into it.

[ShadowCaptain]

I like the PSPlus way, you get to download the game and get to play for an hour.

 

If you like the game you purchase it, retaining your game save and just continue on. That way there is no extra coding or development time taken up creating demo content

[rentaspoon]

Yes, all games should have a demo, even youtube gameplay videos can look exciting and when you actually play it it's not, FEZ made me fall for that and watching infestation being played by my mates only to realise how crap it is when your on your own.

And ingame only trailers too.

[Maxibonbits]

I would rather the developers work on the entire game, rather than an amazing first level and the rest of the game be awful.

[Whiskers]

The problem with a traditional demo is that it requires time and money to create.

 

What we need is for the distribution platforms themselves (Origin, Steam, Uplay, XBL, PSN etc) to evolve and provide us with better ways of trying games before we invest in them. That way we could get a demo for every game and it wouldn't put any excess work or stress on the developers.

[rentaspoon]

I would rather the developers work on the entire game, rather than an amazing first level and the rest of the game be awful.

Why the first? Most old demos use to be the second or a few levels

The problem with a traditional demo is that it requires time and money to create.

What we need is for the distribution platforms themselves (Origin, Steam, Uplay, XBL, PSN etc) to evolve and provide us with better ways of trying games before we invest in them. That way we could get a demo for every game and it wouldn't put any excess work or stress on the developers.

Demos are barely minimal effort to make, you take the finished or near finished game and just put 1 level with 1 character and just "delete" the rest

[JustTooDank]

Demos are barely minimal effort to make, you take the finished or near finished game and just put 1 level with 1 character and just "delete" the rest

How much programming experience do you have?

[Humbug]

I thought about this and realized it's not Gonna happen. There is no way that valve would or could dictate terms in this manner to other game devs. It would make them unpopular with other devs. steam does not control the devs- it's different from a traditional publishing model.

[rentaspoon]

How much programming experience do you have?

Enough thanks.

Edit: I'm not causing an arguement but demos are important and even if it's after the game has been released it makes sense as the people who want the game have brought it and those who are sitting on the fence need convincing.