Varför Early Access?

“About a year ago, we started crowdfunding and released a demo, which brought so much great feedback from the community, making the game into what it is today. We want to continue this trend, and Early Access makes perfect sense to be the next step for this game. Gladiator Guild Manager is the type of game that can benefit so much from players feedback as we continue adding new gladiators, their abilities, quirks, items, quests, features, and later even whole new modes of playing.”

Ungefär hur länge kommer det här spelet att vara i Early Access?

“We do not know for certain at this point. We intend to remain in Early Access for at least a year after the release, but in anticipation of large volumes of new feedback and ideas, this will likely be extended beyond that. We have so many concepts in mind for this game, with so many possibilities, that will only grow as more people join us in generating ideas.”

Hur är det tänkt att den fullständiga versionen ska skilja sig från versionen i Early Access?

“We currently have 6 Main Arena Championships and we intend to have 12 by the end of development. Each Arena Championship will include new gladiators, quirks, items, and quests. We’ll also be adding additional features in various updates in between. As we have done so far, we’ll keep communicating with you all to make sure we focus on the most fun and requested features. Eventually, we even intend to create additional modes of gameplay like Quick Play (fights without managing guild), Dungeon Crawl, and Twitch Modes. This will depend on generating new ideas with you, the community, as we continue developing the game. We will keep updating the game after Early Access as well, so some of those features mentioned might even arrive during Full Release updates.”

Hur är det nuvarande läget i versionen med Early Access?

“About a year ago, when we released the demo, it was already playable and well received. So at this point, following the implementation of requested features, content and more depth to gameplay, we believe that the game is now ready for a wider audience. Being in Early Access means it’s not completed yet, but it’s fully playable. And with the focus on replay value as gladiators, their quirks, items, and quests are randomized with each run. There is a great deal of fun to be had in its current state while watching it evolve, or even helping it grow with your own feedback.”

Kommer spelet att prissättas annorlunda under och efter Early Access?

“Our appreciation for the community that supports the game development is huge. Therefore, early supporters will receive the benefit of a lower price, since the addition of more content will gradually increase the price of the game.”

Hur planerar ni att involvera gemenskapen i er utvecklingsprocess?

“Feedback from the community affected the development enormously. Even before releasing the demo, we showcased the game at gaming conferences and to small groups of beta players, all of which had tremendous influence on the game.

Gladiator Guild Manager is fairly experimental. Or in other words, there are very few titles in the market we can compare it to and learn from, so designing it on paper was challenging. We would regularly make things work one way, get feedback from the community, think it through, and then remove/recreate whole new features entirely. This has probably resulted in more than two-thirds of the game being removed or changed up to this point.
This process took 3 years of the development until this point where we are now satisfied with the game. But we have no regrets. It’s all part of the back and forth development process to create something good.

We intend to continue this trend. Not by removing or changing two-thirds of the features, as we feel we are now on a very good path now :D But instead the trend of talking with the community and deciding together what is the best direction for developing the new features and content.”