Why Early Access?

“The nature of media is typically to respond to events years after they happen. We get movies, books, video games, depicting events when they are usually less relevant to us.

With Electioneering we thought it would be fun to challenge that paradigm. To get this game out while the events it simulates are still unfolding. We don't know exactly how Electioneering will end, because nobody knows how this year is going to end.

In this fashion, Early Access makes sense.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Given the feature set we see as being necessary for a full and complete game, we are estimating early May 2021. This game must be a finished product while the subject matter is still relevant.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“1. The largest feature we expect to add will be introducing some form of a "primary", meaning you will be able to influence the decision to choose Biden over another Democrat in the nomination process. This is also the most complicated feature because it truly allows for more off-scripting than the standard scenario.

2. We plan to make additions and changes to how our Voters are configured to add more variability to the game, both in terms of differentiating voters from each other as well which we expect will help each game feels a bit different in terms of the voters.

3. We plan on adding more options to the agents, to make them more powerful and extend gameplay

4. We have a composer who is working on an original set of tracks we plan to include. However these will not be ready in time for EA. We'll be entering Early Access with music our composer has adapted from their other works. We've selected a set of tracks we hope will feel like more than just placeholders.

5. Most importantly we plan to listen to the customers, and be responsive to what they think might make the game more playable. Since the game is very heavy on data and analytics, it may be that there will be some community suggestions that will be valuable in making the game more accessible.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Currently we have a full Election simulation running, with Events/Issues/Topics/Arguments. We have a configurable amount of Voters that goes from 5,100 to 51,000. We have all 4 functioning agents.

• The Researcher, who gives you the ability to Research Topics, as well as run polling to see how states are leaning, what sort of issues are important.
  
• The Social Engineer, who has the ability to spread misinformation in order to manipulate people's opinions.
  
• The Infiltrator who can ratchet up the importance of any issue, really get the Voter's attention!
  
• The hacker who can break into a candidates systems and find out what they're up to!

”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“We expect to raise the price 20% once early access is finished. We'd like to give a discount as a special thanks to all the Early Access friends who help us get this product out there.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We plan on being very active in the Steam Community discussions using the community hub and other social media for example Twitter and Reddit.

The game content is very scalable and so we would be expecting to engage with the community and find out what type of content the community feels might benefit the discussion the game is intended to provoke.

Given the scope and events that are happening during the game development process, some of the most recent content will likely need some additional balancing. We plan on continuing to tweak it inline with the discussions on the community hub and social media”