Jagged Alliance Leaves Backers Feeling Burned

A big part of why people back a game on Kickstarter is to get access to the many perks associated with helping a game come full circle. One of the perks people look the most forward too (and often give the most money for) is early access to the games they back.  However, as we all know, a good portion of Early Access is done on Steam; and Steam’s Early Access program can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how it’s used.  Unfortunately for some backers, Jagged Alliance: Flashback is one of those cases of a bad Early Access experience.

Browsing the comments section for JA: F (looking for a way to finish level one), I was shocked to see outrage directed at the developers about something other than the complete lack of a basic tutorial. Backers of all tiers still aren’t playing the game. It’s currently available on Steam Early Access for $45, which is already far too expensive for a beta, but backers who were told they’d be given access (including some backers that pledged over $50) still don’t have it. People who grabbed the game during the recent Steam sales are playing right now, but many backers still aren’t able to play until they drop the extra $45 to buy something they were already told they’d be getting. The developers are trying to do a bit of damage control, saying that the choices backers made were their own, but I’m sure many thought that “early access” meant that they’d be playing the early access. Backers are still getting the game (eventually), in addition to their other backer-exclusive rewards, but is this fair?

So, where do you stand on all this? Are the backers to blame here, or is the developer’s scheduling off? Well, if you’d like to learn a little more about this pricey title, you can check out our upcoming review, so stay tuned!

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