Strategy Informer  

Nearly fell off my chair this morning when I booted up Steam to find "ArmA III - Alpha" for sale. You have got to be kidding me. Buy it $40 in the alpha state, then await beta to finally drop and hang around for the final release. Oh, you do get to partake in giving feedback, but to me that is what Beta is for.
Lazy, and obviously cash-strapped, devs.
I absolutely don't believe for a minute that it is their best seller, as displayed on their store page. BS Steam PR at it's worst.

Anyway as for the game, we won't really know until the beta is fully realised and that could be some time.
Anyone plonking for the alpha version is either a wannabe developer, has an ego that needs to be stroked and inflated by 'partaking' in the development cycle or simply has too much cash on their hands...and time.

What next...selling a game based on a picture of the cover art?

How is that any different from preordering a game?

I thought the same thing while writing, but generally a game has advanced well into beta and is nearing completion when you pre-order (usually with incentives and bonuses). Unfortunately the pathetic state of many triple A titles over the past two years has destroyed the confidence of many who used to pre-order.

There are a few that offer beta access when you pre-order, which in my experience is not always a good thing, but I've never heard of buying an Alpha game for full RRP (leaving aside bad games that are released in an Alpha-like state). Something just a bit off about this...nothing I can quite put my finger on, aside from the obvious:
BI are cash-strapped and need the funds to finish the game.

The fact that it's an alpha really makes this a strange offering. I wouldn't even consider doing that with a series I've always loved, like Total War.

The fact is that the people who placed the pre-orders know exactly what they're getting into and are going to buy the game sight-unseen anyway.

I don't see anything wrong with this, it' just a form of crowd funding. It all comes down to trust, if you think they'll actually deliver the game or not.

It's a perfectly valid funding source even for the bigger studios. Imagine if Bioware could make their games this way, without all the interfering from EA.

I don't mind them offering it, people know what they're paying for after all, consumer beware and all that. I just wouldn't do it.

Every previous "ArmA" title has been fraught with problems, numerous bugs, glitches and poor optimisations. Why should this be any different? Could it actually be far, far worse in Alpha state? I'd think so.
I wouldn't buy an "ArmA" title at launch, let alone even pre-order. So this to me is nuts.

If you're into funding a game's development with no stock shares or profit but in getting to play with code, then by all means go for it. If you love the series, I wouldn't dare knock you.

Me, I like to hold on to my cash until I'm a bit more comfortable with the final product and it is some thing that I actually am sure will be more than acceptable...these days, anyway (nightmares of "Naval War Arctic Circle" still recur).

PS. Besides, I blindly pre-ordered 11-Bit's 'Secret Game' which turned out to be "Anomaly 2" which I thought it would be, but they do have a solid track record. So based on what ha come before I felt comfortable - besides it was only $7, not $33.