Steam isn’t the only digital game store with its own Early Access program anymore, indie game distributer Itch.io announced last weekend, and the newly-revealed Itch.io Refinery might be just what the fledging storefront needs to gain some ground on Valve’s digital marketplace.
The new Refinery program was announced on Friday, via a lengthy blog post written on behalf of the entire Itch.io team. The team used the post to outline what it perceived to be the biggest shortcomings of existing Early Access programs, without ever specifically naming the initiative launched by Valve (or any other company), and the ways that these shortcomings ultimately made it more difficult for developers to improve their games after releasing them to the public.
“Yes, the original idea of releasing in-development games to the public in order to gain meaningful feedback and build a community was sound,” the itch.io team wrote . “However, we’ve seen and heard from many developers that early access no longer provides that. Overly competitive environments, sometimes misunderstanding communities and non-existent sales model flexibility has moved the focus of away from growing and fostering a game’s development, to simply completing an early transaction with meager hopes of good feedback.”
The company says its newest initiative won’t be a new section of Itch.io’s existing storefront. Instead, the Refinery is a set of customizable tools designed to let game developers create their own version of an Early Access program. Developers utilizing the Refinery toolset will be able to generate a limited number of keys for an unreleased project, making it possible to soft-launch a game without restricting purchases to a given region. Refinery can also be used to serve exclusive content, streamline the update process, sell physical goods and even build private communities for those users who currently have access to a given project.
According to Itch, five titles have already begun to implement the Refinery and the customizable toolset is now available to any/all interested parties. The company is encouraging developers to try out the new tools, even offering free support for the Refinery. Interestingly, the new early access program doesn’t appear to have its own grouping on the Itch.io store; however, its possible Itch.io could be planning to add such a section once more games have implemented the Refinery toolset. In the interim, Refinery games can be found on a separate section of the Itch.io website.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com for more Itch.io coverage throughout 2016 and for however long Itch.io continues to host its independent digital game store.
