Gamers are desperate – find out why playable demos are becoming a must!

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A few months ago, I came across a Reddit post that is still relevant today, more than ever. Gamers want more playable demos of upcoming games, especially after seeing so many games arrive on launch day riddled with bugs or glitches that ruin the experience.

We could talk about a lot of games from last year that came out with bugs that needed to be fixed, but maybe it’s better to look at the industry as a whole. The original post on Reddit asked the studio to “release a playable demo of at least 30 minutes of gameplay to demonstrate graphics, performance, and general mechanics if pre-orders are anticipated.”

If we’re paying over £50 for a game, shouldn’t we be entitled to a demo first? This is a sentiment that is often expressed on social media and forums. In an age where we’re regularly asked to spend over £50 on new games, many gamers want to be able to judge a game not only for its quality, but also whether they’ll enjoy it.

The post ends with “was common in the 90s but has faded a bit over time”. It’s true, back in the days of CD-based consoles, we had demo discs full of game trials. Talk to anyone with a PlayStation or PlayStation 2 and they’ll have fond memories of playing demos while waiting for a game to come out. With an online sales platform, this should be easier than ever, but it seems that only independent developers think about releasing. A demo.

With so many games releasing with issues, it’s tempting to believe that these issues can be avoided by releasing a demo. The only response to the Reddit post is “it worked before, it should work now” and they are right. Maybe one day it will come back, but if we spend so much, is it worth asking?