When money is put down on the counter and the word “launch” is used, it doesn’t matter if you say your game is in “early access” or “alpha” or what have you — customers will complain, loudly, if an update or glitch wipes out their progress. And this is exactly what happened with Fortnite this past week.
The situation came about when the team uploaded a new patch that, among other things, made changes to three maps that also reset any bases put on those maps. While the resources used to make the bases were refunded, the time and effort spent was lost. To make matters worse, there was no advance warning given to the community, a fact which the team regretted and for which it apologized on the forums.
“We messed up in missing a HUGE part of our patch notes,” the studio posted. “We know that the time it took to create your base can’t be replaced, we hope that opportunity to rebuild with all your resources and past experience will allow you to make an even better base.”
The team promised that while there might be partial refunds of core systems, players’ progression will never be wiped going forward. But it’s a sober reminder that early access isn’t just a head start to a perfected game.
