The Most Important And Substantial Question in Human History

[LoneTophat]

But will there be a demo released prior to D-Day that will allow us to play for a limited timespan with only a few nation choices?

The immediate examples that come to mind are CKII and EUIV.

 

[Gerhard Lindt]

I would think it will come when we can pre order so one month before d day

 

[Kazansky22]

Maybe if you pre-order they will grant beta access.....

 

[Rubidium]

But will there be a demo released prior to D-Day that will allow us to play for a limited timespan with only a few nation choices?

The immediate examples that come to mind are CKII and EUIV.

I know Victoria II (my first PI game) did this as well, so it seems likely.

 

[Mac Lazer]

Maybe if you pre-order they will grant beta access.....

Lmfao no

 

[WarPie]

Maybe if you pre-order they will grant beta access.....

 

[CaptRobau]

The most recent title, EUIV, did have a demo. That's 2.5 years ago though, so that couldn't mean anything though.

 

[Kevonfor]

I think I've never been so hyped for a game since Battlefield 2142, 10 years ago when I was just a kid. So I'd gladly take anything to get my hands on it earlier !

 

[Victor Cortez]

Stellaris doesn't have a demo yet, so I don't know.
I wonder what it will have though. As far as I'm concerned, the Italian war in Ethiopia would be enough for me.

 

[Mevennos]

Stellaris doesn't have a demo yet, so I don't know.
I wonder what it will have though. As far as I'm concerned, the Italian war in Ethiopia would be enough for me.

I seem to recall the Stellaris devs stating that there would not be a Stellaris demo. However, I've not heard anything for Hoi4.

 

[fuzzymanbowb]

42

 

[CHRIS3169]

I seriously doubt open access or demos, but a simple little tutorial like the Japanese invading an island and using fleets like in hoi2 would be cool.

 

[GhengisKhan]

They usually release a demo but it comes out with launch if history is any indication.

 

[Victor Cortez]

They usually release a demo but it comes out with launch if history is any indication.

EU4 demo was released on the 8th of August, the game on the 13th
http://www.europauniversalis4.com/news/sample-feeling-conquest-europa-universalis-iv-demo

 

[Number 7]

a demo before the launch would make me so happy. right now the only thing that has a prayer of keeping my interest between now and D-Day is stellaris, although my heart is still set on hearts of iron as my favourite that im really waiting for

 

[Leoap]

I love the title The Most Important And Substantial Question in Human History
hahahahaha

 

[Immortal88]

I didn't even realize EUIV and CKII had demo versions! I checked it out on Steam and sure enough there are the demos. I swear though, that "demo" button might as well be invisible... so small and innocent and tucked away right out of sight, blending into the blue-ish background.

I'd play the hell out of a HoIIV demo before release. Not sure though, if a demo in this day and age actually works in terms of generating more revenue than you put into creating it. Then again if CKII and EUIV are any indication, HoIIV might stick around for a looong time to be pampered with dlc, so over the lifetime of the whole game, producing a demo might actually still be economically sound. Enable players to play as Italy until 1940 or something.

 

[gamedude]

The demo could be Germany vs Poland. Everyone would then try to defend Poland.

 

[Rubidium]

I assume that they will want to produce a demo with the least possible effort, so they will do like they did with their previous games: it's the "full" game, but you are limited to one or a few countries, and a short amount of time, from one start date. So something like France from the 1939 start date to June 1940, or Germany over the same time, or Italy from 1936-1938 or something like that. They may tweak events slightly to make them more likely to happen during the time frame (for instance, the Victoria II demo was the US to 1850, IIRC, with triggers/MTTH adjusted so the American Civil War would generally happen early enough to fall in that time frame), but otherwise the same.

That would be much simpler and take less effort than creating an entirely new scenario just for a demo, while being easier to pitch as "see the game in action".

 

[Victor Cortez]

Not sure though, if a demo in this day and age actually works in terms of generating more revenue than you put into creating it..

I'm no expert but I suppose it depends on the game genre, but it could also be a double edged sword.
I mean, extremely popular and well known games like Call of Duty or FIFA, probably don't need a demo (but they sell so much anyway that it's probably super cheap in relative terms), because people know those franchises and essentially it's more of the same. If you liked it in 2015, chances are you're going to like it in 2016.

With Paradox games, on the other hand, very few people might be convinced about the purchase, so they might want to try it to see if it's their cup of tea. What might happen though, is that since it's free people try it for 5 minutes realize it's extremely complex, leave it and don't buy the game (whereas if they had bought it they would probably give it a second chance).

I wonder if PDS can collect some interesting data about the demo usage (they can for their full games).