What happened to demos?

Omaeka

Omaeka

Omaeka

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Joined
10 Apr 2012
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I really don't get why there are no demos on PC anymore. If you look at Xbox Live or PSN, they are still getting demos. Granted not every single release get them but most do, but the PC doesn't even get any of the demos they do. Surely we would need them more to see how games run first due to hardware variety and lazy developers...

Does anyone have any idea why they don't bother to give us demos when we need them the most? I bet that if they started to, piracy figures would plummet but then they'd have no excuse to bend us over a barrel, so that's probably why imo.

Thoughts?
 
Get them dodgy demo discs out the back of some magazine. Hours of fun..

Well, one hour its usually capped to that.
 
shanestatham said:
Pretty sure ive downloaded lots of demos from Steam before.... :/ and Origin come to think of it....Crysis 3 beta multiplayer springs to mind
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4 AAA games have had demos on Steam in the last 12 months. Origin is a little better with quite a few of their titles as demos but it's still maybe 5% of games released having demos, it's disgusting.
 
Omaeka said:
Does anyone have any idea why they don't bother to give us demos when we need them the most? I bet that if they started to, piracy figures would plummet but then they'd have no excuse to bend us over a barrel, so that's probably why imo.
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Because with some of the games released - if you had played the demo you would have no intention of buying the game. Same with demos released after the game is, or review embargoes until the game is released (i.e. no previews).

Arguably even some of the demos that do get released or publicly demonstrated (e.g. Aliens: Colonial Marines) are of better quality than the finished game in a bait and switch style tactic.

Arguably the future of demos may well be time limited streaming of the full release game via gaikai or onlive style tech.
 
malachi said:
Bring back Shareware, I say!!!!!
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Let's party like it's 1991. :)

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Demos existed as an expense to to the publisher/developer to promote/hype a game, not as a right or "benefit" of players.

As such and as an expense, they are no longer needed.
 
Personally, I think it's because a lot of publishers and companies just don't want you to not spend money.

Put demo out - it's awesome, people buy the full game.
Put demo out - it's terrible, people don't buy the full game.

Don't put demo out - nobody knows until reviewers review it (even then they might not be allowed to under NDA until the game is released) and people buy the full game.
 
caz32 said:
Cause it hurts sales
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http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/rele...-game-sales-social-games-bloss-claims/0110707
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“The things with no demo, you’ve gotta buy it if you want to try it,” he continued. The risk you take in making a demo is that people will try your game, but that’s all they’ll ever do. They may not have the desire to then go on and buy the full game.”
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It only hurt sales if the demo showed the game was rubbish... if you have no demo, and there are no reviews then I'm not going to be the one to risk my money to "try it" and find out its rubbish
 
companies realised people would buy demo's decide they didn't like the game so wouldn't buy it...

without demos people would buy a game based on hype and marketing and then realise they didn't like it after already parting with hard earned cash...

In reality al it did was get more people pirating games as a "try before you buy" and I'd imagine a lot of them just stopped buying games all together when they realised just how easy it is to pirate games
 
Companies no longer have confidence in what they sell, they have budgets and investors. Releasing a demo of a half-baked game will hurt sales so now they throw tons of pre-order garnish at customers knowing most of them will lap it up and give them money for junk :(:rolleyes:
 
Strong marketing campaign will probably sell you more copies and many people will dislike the game when they get it. E.g. Alien thingy
 
Takes resource to create PC gamers will not buy if the demo is poor look at Tomb Raider how many would have bought that if a demo came out before the release date :rolleyes: not I for sure ;)
 
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