AUDIENCE APPEAL

Is there a tolerance for the Early Access model on consoles?

If Microsoft has been surprisingly adaptable, what of its players? Might a console audience take issue with an unfinished game? “It’s harder to have a direct relationship with an Xbox player than a PC player, because they don’t have a keyboard,” Van Lierop says. “We’re talking with Microsoft about ways to streamline that relationship, to make it easier for people to provide feedback directly from within the game.” Otherwise, the response has been pretty positive. Van Lierop believes Microsoft’s curation of Game Preview titles is the right move. “It’s not like they’re picking up the game on Xbox One and it’s a buggy disaster.”