Could bounty programs help curb buggy game launches?

[Shawn Knight]

In what can only be viewed as a brilliant marketing move to attract customers while simultaneously improving its product, the developers behind Steam Early Access title Ark: Survival Evolved have launched a bounty program for anyone that finds a bug in their game.

The bounty was first confirmed last week and already, a user by the name of ZeroDay(++) has taken advantage of it.

As noted in this post from the developer, the user contacted them about a potential hack / exploit that could force servers to crash unexpectedly along with other side effects. Within a matter of two hours, the developer sent the bounty payment through PayPal.

Some argue that the ability to rapidly dispatch patches has forced game developers to become lazy or impatient. Others contend that the issue stems from today’s games being so much more complex. But whatever the root cause, there’s no denying that buggy games are a major industry concern.

Just yesterday, Warner Bros. Games suspended sales of Batman: Arkham Knight on the PC due to widespread technical issues that include stuttering and gameplay lag on both AMD and Nvidia hardware. The game was allegedly ported to the PC by a third-party studio consisting of just 12 staffers.

WB Games said they are working to remedy the performance issues and will provide an update when it is ready. Those who want a refund can request one through Steam’s new refund policy or at the retail location where the game was purchased.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/61116-could-bounty-programs-help-curb-buggy-game-launches.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Great idea. Ubisoft could benefit greatly from something like this, not to mention a million other publishers.

 

[Nick D]

They put a small team on the pc port.... they must have expected this. They are not new to gaming.

 

[Sniped_Ash]

This won't change anything because it's no secret that developers prioritize known bugs and deem some of them as OK to ship with. It's not like QA departments and beta testers aren't finding things that need fixing.

This is also specifically deals with hacks and exploits. It's to offer a monetary incentive for players who find an exploit to tell the developer instead of using it and causing havoc for their own amusement. It has nothing to do with flesh-faced character textures in AC: Unity or Mortal Kombat X on the PC not actually being able to run.

I mean do you really think that Rocksteady needs to pay players to tell them that the PC port of their game performs like it was coded by a bunch of monkeys when it's being complained about on the internet for free?

 

[Adhmuz]

"The game was allegedly ported to the PC by a third-party studio consisting of just 12 staffers."

There's so much fail there I don't even know where to begin... I'm sure as hell glad I got this game for free with the purchase of my GTX 970 I got when the promotion first launched, I haven't played it to see just how bad it is, just waiting for it to work right before trying to play it, getting disappointed, and never play it again. Another fail brought to you in part by your crappy local gaming consoles, thank you WB.

 

[deemon]

A PAYED TESTER ... omg that's something unbelievable ...

 

[hahahanoobs]

Could bounty programs help curb buggy game launches?

The new Steam refund policy is more than enough to make studios do it themselves like it should be. Already today we've seen the Arkham Knight recall, and an apology from a Bungie dev for being a butthead to customers following backlash over DLC pricing, so things are already looking up.