Neutrino: How are the PA sales?

Nordic has a release date posted on their site, and Uber has made a marked shift from the "when it's done" mentality with the advent of this "Gamma phase" business. Maybe its a coincidence, but there has been no other official explanation for the sudden rush to 1.0. Is there another reason you can think of other than the partnership with Nordic that would force Uber rush and do something so rash as to claim what they have is nearly fit for release? I think everyone here can agree that "when it's done" is not any time soon. Why do we need 1.0 before then? There has to be a good reason, or they wouldn't even risk causing the kind of outcry a decision like that will cause. Pressure from a publisher (exactly what kickstarter was supposed to circumvent) is the corner piece to this puzzle that brings the whole picture into focus...

You act like this is a bad thing. 1.0 could come out tomorrow and I wouldn't bat an eyelash. Uber could post here and say "We need to rush to 1.0 asap to make more money." and I wouldn't bat an eyelash. In short: Why should we care?

You know, if they came out and said "Guys, we need more money. We thought the best way to do that is to launch early" I would take that 100% differently than what they are saying: "We want to bring you the best experience [insert generic marketing garbage]" meanwhile they are hiring more people and have stated that they are doing well. That's a huge difference. 1 is honest and humble, the other is 2-faced an manipulative. I really dislike being lied to, it's a principals thing...

They probably would if it wasn't taboo to announce that as a company (any company, not just video games) your sole purpose is to make money. People don't run companies because its fun to do (at least that's not the sole reason), they do it to put food on the table. It shocks me that this surprises and even enrages some people (not saying that's you, just in general).

When you release a game on a physical disc, it involves a lot of planning and there will be deadlines.

Why is Uber lying now? I am confused... releasing the game 1.0 without certain features is lying? They said that the game will evolve even after official launch.

If Uber thinks they can launch the game without certain features x/y then this is their decision and their business.

Where is all this coming from? Someone planted a bug in Ubers office? Someone actually has actual knowledge from the inside? ^^

Isn't Nordic Games the spiritual successor to JoWood which has a long running history of ruining games by forcing premature releases? Seeing PA being distributed by them makes me cringe even if it is just the physical retail copies. Fingers crossed that all works out well for Uber in that relationship!
Oh and a big thumbs up for you Uber guys for putting yourself in the line of fire in this thread, your comments are much appreciated even if they are not always fully understood - by me at least, that is. It is just the sudden approach of a classic release after trying to establish that 'revolutionary' Gamma thing which is confusing people I would wager. Try to stay as open and responsive as you have been up to this point - that relationship will go a long way in keeping people supportive of what you do.
All the best for 1.0!

I'm just going to say you guys do not have a good track record for good launches and constant support. Not after PC MNC, and certainly not after SMNC. Support started strong but waned and dropped off the radar quickly because of problems with both games' launches killed the new player experience. And then subsequently, the entire playerbase.

I hope you've learned for those and have enough content and polish put into PA 1.0. I'm impressed with how much has been done in comparatively little time, but the game isn't not close to ready. It doesn't sound like it, but I hope you're not going to shove something out the door without making sure most of the features are there and robust.

Unfinished game INCOMING !!!!

it smells like the Uber devs joining EAs footsteps by releasing Unfinished games............

We made a deal with Nordic to sell a boxed version of the game. There are no contract terms giving them the right to dictate to us anything about ship timing. As good partners however, it is important for us to work together and try to meet whatever dates we might tell them, as they may choose to expend marketing resources publicizing the release. Still, we will ship when it's ready even if that means telling them we have to delay.

The original question of the thread was how are sales. As stated before, we can't really go in to details, but the basic way to think about it is that those sales keep the studio afloat so we can continue to make the game. The kickstarter contributions were never going to be enough for the full production. Obviously there is a lot more complication than that, but that is the gist.

Few if any software projects start with an exact description of the final product and stay true to it to the very end. To do so is usually a recipe for bankruptcy. So features come and go or change along the way. And when the end is near, you can spend an eternity tweaking and improving it, or you can define a good point to bring it to release. And bringing it to release always involves leaving on the cutting room floor features that were desired by both the company and the customers. The good news is that these days bringing it to release does not mean the end of new things as ongoing development can continue.

Hitting that release is good news for both the company and the players. The company can sell more products and fund more game development, and the players get an infusion of other players to play with and generally join the community. Tournament seasons can be run with much more limited balance changes, and mod creators can start to go wild on a more static modding platform. And given live updates after release, as a customer base you give up nothing.

Onward, to release!

And with that, I'm going to go ahead and close this thread. It's been derailed, and there's really not much else to say on the subject of sales.