Why Early Access?

“I want SpyParty to be an incredibly deep competitive experience about subtle human behavior (and not getting shot), and to do that, I need players exploring the depths of the game design. The game has been in beta for a looooong time and has evolved a lot since it was first revealed years ago. There have been hundreds of thousands of games played, countless tournaments, leagues, and ladders, too many gaming convention booths, and now it's finally time to broaden that testing to involve the Steam community!”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“I am very bad at estimating dates, but I think it will be in Early Access about two years (uh, obviously this was a big underestimate!). I'm a perfectionist, and hopefully you can see the trendline from how the game started with the original prototype art (you can catch a glimpse of some if you look for the waiter or bartender in the screenshots above) to where it is now. You're invited to come along for the next part of this ride!”

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

“The goal for the 1.0 release is even better graphics, even more maps and missions, and even deeper competitive game mechanics. I'd also like to do single player modes and experiment with other multiplayer modes, but those are riskier and will have to wait until I get the 1v1 mode perfect, so I don't know if they'll make 1.0 or if they'll be later experiments and updates, but I have a lot of plans!”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The current version of SpyParty is a two-player online experience. Players connect through a lobby and play a match usually consisting of multiple games, alternating playing Spy and Sniper each game. The games last about 3 minutes each, and people tend to play 10 or 20 games in a match. There is a very advanced spectation and replay system, so players can both spectate matches in progress, or look at replays of previous matches, and even play Sniper against the game they're spectating/replaying for added challenge while watching a match. There's an active online community of experienced players that love helping new players learn, and there's a brand new tutorial to ease players into learning SpyParty because it's such a different game design.

Qualitatively, SpyParty has been playable at a highly competitive level for years. The top players have thousands of hours in the game and tens of thousands of games played, it has been invited to e-sports events like EVO, it has long lines waiting to play at shows like the Penny Arcade Expo, and it was the secret final game of the PAX Omegathon a few years back. It's a pretty good game already, although maybe I'm a bit biased.

That said, it's beta, so there are bugs. And mistunings. And clunky UI. And if you look hard enough, there are places in the game where there's still old ugly prototype art. Usually the old-timers are hanging out in these dusty corners, but if you approach them slowly they'll often tell you the deepest gameplay secrets and they might even offer to play a mentoring match with you, teaching you to destroy your friends with their forbidden ancient SpyParty knowledge.”

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

“I will probably raise the price on full release, but I haven't decided for sure yet.”

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

“I plan to continue as I have during the pre-Steam beta, which is to say having an open constructive conversation with early-access players, taking feedback and suggestions, and talking freely about design tradeoffs as I make development decisions. The elite players are much better at SpyParty than I am now, so getting their feedback is crucial to making good design choices. A number of the existing maps and missions and mechanics have come from player suggestions, and I expect that to continue, because I love getting constructive feedback from the community! So, as long as your feedback is polite and constructive, I'm very interested to hear it!”