The developers at small indie studio Odyssey Interactive are doing something “a little crazy” and have released an early prototype of their next game. Byte destroyerto see if people like it and if they should do it.
Founded in 2020, the first game from Odyssey Interactive, Omega strikertook several years to develop and will be released in 2023. end support for it in November last year. Now, they’re doing something different with the next game. Byte destroyer is a 4-player platform fighting game. Or in other words: like “Fortress Heroes” × “Super Smash Bros.”. This time, Odyssey Interactive wants people to play the game early so they can decide whether the prototype is worth making and supporting.
September 11Odyssey Interactive developers Lunchboy and Maple have announced that the team has been working on various prototypes for their potential next game for the past eight months. The first one they want the community to play is Byte buster.
“and Omega striker We know firsthand the risks of keeping things secret for too long, and we feel the pain of having to move on from something we’ve been passionate about for three years,” the developers explained. “We want to hear your ideas as early as possible for all of our next projects.”
Odyssey Interactive says that over the next “few days” they will be testing the game on Steam, and “thousands of people” will be able to join and play a very, very early version of the game. Byte destroyer. You can sign up to play on the game’s new Steam page.
“[The playtest will be] Fully public, so feel free to talk about it with your friends, make videos about it, or even stream it. We want to hear what you really think,” the developer said.
But don’t assume Byte destroyer Guaranteed to be completed and published. Odyssey Interactive makes it very clear that it may not ultimately Byte destroyer or other games based on player feedback during these early tests.
“We may not end up actually prototyping this,” the studio said. “We also may not end up making the next prototype we show you. But we think this type of public testing is the best way to determine if our ideas work. We trust you and we trust your feedback. So please come in And let us know what you think.
It’s an interesting strategy, reminiscent of the way Valve develops its next game. deadlock. Early Access has been a part of gaming for years, with developers releasing unfinished games and working with the community to build on them. But with deadlock and Byte circuit breaker, Studios and developers brought earlier, unfinished prototypes and ideas to players and asked, “Hey, what do you think about this?”
In an industry obsessed with secrecy, this is a nice change. It will also hopefully help the team avoid spending three years or more on an online game that no one wants. This may mean less Costly failure leads to shutdowns and layoffs. So I’m all for studios pulling back the curtain and showing people what they’re working on and seeing if anyone actually cares.
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