Early Access for Weirdlab Inc : Why, How, When ?

What happened in the last 2 months ?

Hello there, it’s me, Oxey ! I know it’s been radio silence for a few months but now that exams season passed I have had time to work on my game and I have good news : Chapter 2 is now complete and work on Chapter 3 is going along pretty well. However, this project is taking, I think, too much time and this has negatively impacted me and my confidence in the Weirdlab Inc project. My motivation took a massive toll namely because I wanna get my game published at some point in Playdate’s Catalog but I don’t believe the game in it’s current state can be published so officially.

State of the game

Weirdlab Inc. is in a pretty good state (I think) ;

• performance-wise major improvements on loading screens and FPS.
• A complete graphical overhaul to the game which really adds to the ambiance
• speaking of ambiance ; some new ambiance already in the game and more coming soon
• The story is a bit better than before and though the story isn’t the main point I think it’s a neat addition.

BUT ! Stuff is still missing :

• I don’t really know how to write music and I can’t seem to find a correct way to create the ambiance I’m looking for
• I really need play-testing and suggestions for the story.

A solution

Looking at the constant diminution of motivation, the piling of stuff I can’t really do myself and the complete lack of interest for my game, I came to the conclusion that only two solutions can solve all those problems ;

• Accept that the project is dead and stop it right there
• Release an early-access of the game for very cheap to raise support and awareness.

Quite obviously, I am not ready to give up 7 months worth of work on one of the most complex projects I have ever done so I believe releasing the game in Early-Access is the only logical solution for Weirdlab Inc right now.

How Early-Access works

First off I would like to state that this isn’t really an option I really like either… I would love to publish a full-featured game before August 2024. I also know that Early-Access can scare some people plus Early-Access isn’t really a standard distribution method in the Playdate gaming market (if you could call it like that).

I think of releasing Weirdlab Inc. as an early-access game this summer.

I’m not so sure how things will turn out for the project but it will depend on how much I get. Be assured that I will try my best to deliver the base game by end of 2024 no matter what but the game will probably get better stuff the more people take a leap of faith and buy Weirdlab Inc.

If I do release the game, Early Access will start at $1. If you want to chat about Weirdlab Inc and/or provide feedback, either use itch.io’s comment/rate feature or chat with me on Playdate Squad’s discord server. Thank you for reading and I hope I’ll be able to update you on the game soon.