Last week we reviewed First Impact: Rise of a Hero, a VR superhero sandbox from Canada-based Red Meat Games. While the game showed early promise, the final product was sadly lacking.
While First Impact had a bright comic book world and some fun powers to experiment with, visual bugs, poor enemy AI and control issues kept us from giving the game more than a 4/10. In the week that’s followed, Red Meat told UploadVR that it has decided to shift the game from a full release into Early Access so that it can work on improving the title. That means the game’s had a dramatic price drop; it’s now $14.99 (with a current discount taking it to $13.49) rather than $34.99.
“One of the most important things you can do with a game launch is to listen to your audience,” company CEO Keith Makse told UploadVR of the decision. “Sometimes they say the things that you don’t want to hear, but that you MUST hear.”
He explained that the game had recieved positive feedback when it was on display at PAX South earlier this year, played by thousands of people and listed in the top 20 games to play at the show. That success propelled the developer to launch on Early Access.
“Our first customer wasn’t happy. Other people commented on the game without playing it. UploadVR released an unhappy article on the game. The news was clear to us by that point; we needed to swallow our pride, admit our mistake and relaunch the game on Early Access.”
The studio now plans to spend the next six to 12 months polishing the game, fixing bugs and making it fit with the original vision. “It’s easy to wear blinders and hard to admit errors. But it’s harder to ignore your mistakes and the consequences (bad word of mouth, dismal sales, disappointed press and angry customers) that will be your downfall,” Makse said.
It’s only been a week, but First Impact isn’t the only superhero sim out there anymore; PowersVR also launched in Early Access last week.
