Home Gaming Broken Age gets season pass

Broken Age gets season pass

1 min read
4

Broken age

Double Fine raised a ridiculous amount of money through Kickstarter to make Broken Age. In fact, they raised so much money that they ended up drastically changing the project, with their point-and-click adventure growing to a whole new level. They already broke the game in half, but now they will make that part of the design.

When Tim Shafer and Double Fine announced that they needed even more money to complete Broken Age, it seemed rather unfair to all the backers who threw money at it. The first half of the game was going to be released through Steam Early Access, with backers getting first crack at it, and a free update to the full game upon completion. However, now it seems that they will take a different business model:

For various logistical reasons, and because we believe Act 1 is a polished and satisfying piece of content in its own right, Broken Age will be a standard Steam release that includes a “Season Pass” granting access to Act 2 once it is complete. Anyone who has Act 1—either by being a backer, or by buying the game separately—will receive Act 2 as a free update when it’s ready.

I’m glad to hear that Act 1 is so polished and ready to go. This makes me feel way better about the state of the project. I still don’t think it’s fair to the people who originally backed the game – they weren’t backing an episodic experience. Then again, the backers are getting far more than they originally bargained for. The story looks really interesting to me – here is the behind the scenes trailer for those who like those things.

Oddly, even though the game will be available to backers today, there’s a review embargo on the title that prohibits reviews before January 27th – whether press are backers or not. Very, very strange. 

Last Updated: January 14, 2014

4 Comments

  1. Mark Treloar

    January 14, 2014 at 12:14

    Review embargo is there for one reason only. They want people to spend the money and pay possibly extra for the season pass so that they can complete the project. if reviews come out and they are not favorable the second episode could be sunk before it even begins. Where would that leave the backers then?

    Reply

    • ZeedleBloT

      January 14, 2014 at 13:03

      I disagree. This is Double Fine, not EA. Double Fine have a stellar track record. Top notch adventure games have traditionally been quite costly to make, and Tim Schafer hasn’t made a point and click adventure since his LucasArts days. It’s understandable that the economics would be kind of unfamiliar to his company.

      Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    January 14, 2014 at 13:02

    Why call it a season pass, there’s not season – it’s just the other half of the game. Same reason it’s not episodic, if you think episodic you think more than 2. Just call it part 1 & part 2.

    Reply

  3. Josh

    January 15, 2014 at 00:39

    I still don’t understand why anything they’ve done can be perceived as unfair to backers; they’re still getting the entire game and aren’t being asked to put more money up for it, so what’s the big deal?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Psychonauts 2 is almost finished, will release in 2021

An update released by Double Fine Games has confirmed that the studios is in the final sta…