TombRaider_Ed |
22-05-21 08:50 |
Hopefully I can clear it up a little bit. In terms of terminology, here's what each type of 'launch' means, as the platforms are managed very differently:
CONSOLE / PC TERMINOLOGY
- Closed Beta = play for a limited time through invite only, such as being on an ambassador program or having to apply for a spot to play early
- Open Beta = anyone has access anywhere in the world but understands that what they're playing is for a limited time to help with technical stability or balancing
- Early Access = play the game early and have access to it ongoing, likely paid to help a team fund the remainder of development as well as get vital data about stability and gameplay balancing
MOBILE TERMINOLOGY
- Soft launch = a controlled rollout across geographical territories of an early version of the game that, whilst it remains live until it launches globally, you may experience progress resets as the game is still undergoing major updates. The territories are categorised so that you're getting the first launch out to low priority countries where there are fewer people wanting to play, so those that do play are helping test technical infrastructure, then the next wave are higher value players who will likely stick with the game so you're testing game balancing and putting new features in (where Reloaded is now so all our updates at the moment come with balancing changes to make sure it's not too grindy) then the final stage before worldwide launch is where you have all your launch features in and you're doing an overall balance from progression to difficulty to events etc. Then we move to....
- Hard / Global Launch = the game has all the desired features in and it's balanced and ready for the most valuable players, such as fans of the franchise and markets that play alot of mobile games (US, UK, most of Europe.) We hold back some features until this point to make sure there's something exciting to look forward to when we release.
Live Ops = once we've gone global, we then have a multi-year plan for new features, outfits, events, levels etc that we work on to make sure we're constantly improving the game and adding cool new stuff that makes you want to stick with us.
Hope that clarifies things :D
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