Why did Demo's for PC games die?

[rstove02]

Extra Credits Video on Demos

The above video talks about how demos. Do know they go into why it is becoming more uncommon for a demo for a game to be released.

 

[skipsneeky2]

too many companies realized that a demo can show how crappy their game is and keep people from buying it.

Yup,this right here.

Last good game i found a demo to that i bought was Hard Reset,played it a few times and enjoyed it so much i just bought the game when i found it at Best Buy one day just browsing around.

 

[Morbus]

I don't know about AAA gaming, but indie developers are still very much all about the demos.

And indie developers are all very much about PC.

For games you never heard about...

Aren't those the games you need demos for? Like... What kind of argument is that?!

 

[bystander36]

Since when has AAA dev's given out demos?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Since when has AAA dev's given out demos?

How old are you? It used to be commonplace.

Heck I remember back in the day playing the HECK out of that Unreal Tournament Demo because it had maybe the best Deathmatching map of all time- DM-Morpheus. Rocket hopping from roof to roof was a blast.

 

[JimKiler]

Yea, I really miss demos. I think I probably still have a stack of old Demo CDs from PC gamer sitting around somewhere.

And I think games have become so complex and complicated that it is too much work to make a demo into a playable state to release before the actual game. Hell, most games now are barely playable upon release.

I think there is truth into this as well. I remember some demo's being after the full game release but i cannot remember titles to backup my claim.

It is nice that steam has demo's of indie games.

 

[EDUSAN]

better internet connections allowed people to just download and pirate the whole game?

demos were more normal when in a cd you could have a ton of demos and you didnt have internet at home or it was a shitty dial up that downloading a 100mbs demo was like a pain in the ass

 

[Morbus]

better internet connections allowed people to just download and pirate the whole game?

This.

 

[bystander36]

How old are you? It used to be commonplace.

Heck I remember back in the day playing the HECK out of that Unreal Tournament Demo because it had maybe the best Deathmatching map of all time- DM-Morpheus. Rocket hopping from roof to roof was a blast.

I started gaming in the 80's. Doom had a demo, I didn't know Unreal Tournament had one, but both of those were start ups as far as I was aware. Just because they pioneered 3D FPS games, does not make them AAA.

Even if you don't call them start ups, they started a new genre, and wanted people to see what it was they were buying. The genre as least was a start up.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I started gaming in the 80's. Doom had a demo, I didn't know Unreal Tournament had one, but both of those were start ups as far as I was aware. Just because they pioneered 3D FPS games, does not make them AAA.

Quake 3 had a demo. That was certainly an AAA game and by then the genre and ID were quite established.

 

[bystander36]

Quake 3 had a demo. That was certainly an AAA game and by then the genre and ID were quite established.

Not many others had demos. Even at that time. They probably just used demos because they had before, and you know how gamers don't like change.

You occasionally get demos on AAA games today as well. It is just rare, as it was then.

 

[smackababy]

Not many others had demos. Even at that time. They probably just used demos because they had before, and you know how gamers don't like change.

You occasionally get demos on AAA games today as well. It is just rare, as it was then.

The only companies making AAA games that offer demos are likely those that are doing it out of habit and were indies when demos were the way to get your name out there.

Blizzard kind of does the demo thing, but they usually wait until all the early adopter money is made. Games like Diablo 3 and Starcraft have "starter versions" that offer a demo of sorts, that carries over should you buy the full game. But, that is after they made their millions.

 

[BoberFett]

too many companies realized that a demo can show how crappy their game is and keep people from buying it.

And because companies realized that dumb people were willing to pay actual money for demos. Oops, I mean "early release alphas."

Edit: Heh, I see I'm not the first.

 

[darkswordsman17]

There's also the occasional Steam free weekends.

And because companies realized that dumb people were willing to pay actual money for demos. Oops, I mean "early release alphas."

Edit: Heh, I see I'm not the first.

Or if you're Konami/Hideo Kojima get them to pay $20 for a demo. But then they used to be able to get people to buy entire games just for demos on consoles at least.

 

[poofyhairguy]

But then they used to be able to get people to buy entire games just for demos on consoles at least.

Oh yeah. I bought Zone of The Enders to get the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo. I also bought Tobal No. 1 to get the Final Fantasy 7 demo.

 

[HeXen]

Oh yeah. I bought Zone of The Enders to get the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo. I also bought Tobal No. 1 to get the Final Fantasy 7 demo.

I bought BraveFencer Musashi for the FF8 demo...but I did enjoy the Bravefencer game quite a bit and was disappointed with the FF8 demo because it seemed too different than FF7. Never playing the previous FF games, I guess I had expectations of a sequel being similar.

 

[Rakehellion]

too many companies realized that a demo can show how crappy their game is and keep people from buying it.

Exactly.

 

[futurefields]

Demos cut down on sales a lot.

A lot of "PC Gamers" will buy a game just to see how it's engine runs on their rig. They will play the game for a level or two, if that.

A demo allows them to do this without ever paying for the game and game developers realized this fact and stop making the demos.

 

[Morbus]

Do they cut down on sales?

Minecraft had a demo...

 

[clok1966]

Do they cut down on sales?

Minecraft had a demo...

Minecraft is not the average game. Its also one of those odd games that crosses generations. A 5 year old to a 50 year old plays it. There are very few games that do this.

But back to the reason for fewer demo's. Well for starters the world has changed a TON in last 30 years. Games where not the huge industry they are now. Games where sold in a few specialty shops, now you can download, view, see gameplay footage almost anywhere on the net. IN the past you could only guess the gameplay from the screenshots on the back. And while I'm sure there where a few, CONSOLES never had demos, now they do, so in that case, today there are MORE demo's. In the past games where much less accessible, 2-4 new games a month was alot, look at STEAM today, 2-5 games a WEEK! Studies have shown only a very small percent of players play through games, hence demos are actually killing your sales as many do not even finish demo's. And its not because the game it is bad, its lack of focus, new game every day, texting, TV, etc..

Yes, some games are just bad and DEMO would hurt them, but others it would actually kill some sales. WORD OF MOUTH sells games more today then ever. YouTube, videos on game store pages, etc. Right now a DEMO really is what small timers do as they dont have budgets to spread the game all over, pay of magazines to like it, etc.. They do it to gt some word of mouth going.

Less demos, just the way the world changes, no videos, no outlets to let people know of your game in the past is over, Youtube, and the net has made any game available to look at, decide if you like it.

 

[Morbus]

Minecraft is not the average game. Its also one of those odd games that crosses generations. A 5 year old to a 50 year old plays it. There are very few games that do this.

My point precisely.

Average games don't need demos because what really sells is the boobs on the cover and their ad budget.

That or the name.

:EDIT:
I'm all for boobs on the cover, don't get me wrong. MOAR BEWBS!

 

[sandorski]

Youtube/Twitch is a big factor, but I also think the size needed these days for a Demo is likely another major factor.

 

[zinfamous]

too many companies realized that a demo can show how crappy their game is and keep people from buying it.

why offer a free demo when they can successfully charge people to beta test their crappy games now?

 

[BurnItDwn]

Reviews, screenshots, videos, and other information about the game has much more availability than in the past. You arent going into a game as blindly as you may have in the BBS/shareware model era.

 

[Blitzvogel]

Beta tests and early access are the new "demos" but usually come at the cost of pre-ordering or selling your soul.