ASTRIDE: Will It Be the Next Horse Game Flop? 

its a developing game so it does not feel like you can say a lot😢

Definitely a flop after a year or two . Like most new horse games😊

Flop 100%. Money hungry devs that released the skeleton of a game for 25$. Big, big flop.

will be a miracle if it gets out of early access xd

I get that people are disappointed with the bare bones early access, but due to government grants and fundings they were legally required to stick to their planned ea release or risk losing funding. They already postponed it for as long as they were legally able, as the original ea date was set for December 2022. They would have waited longer to release the early access if it weren't for the stipulations of the funding terms. I do agree that 25€ for a horse creator and some obstacles is overpriced though, and I def understand that people feel like they wasted money. The team is perfectly transparent in their discord/patreon regarding their progress and I feel it's a bit harsh to dub this game a flop based solely on the ea. They have addressed very recently that they realize having their kickstarter trailer as the ea trailer was misleading regarding the amount of content to be expected, and have now said that as they continue to add content to the ea they will release new trailers to reflect this, but even then once you do enter the ea you get a pretty clear cut warning that the game is very bare bones and to lower your expectations. Another thing to consider is that the Astride team are very fresh and have either none or scarce experience with making games prior to the development of Astride so they truly are learning as they go. Also keep in mind that unlike tales of rein ravine and unbridled, Astride does not have any pre-purchased assets/models etc. It is made 100% from scratch, models, animations, environments, coding and all which means that the game overall takes longer to develop since these self made builds need expansive testing and polishing to be fit for full release, compared to other upcoming titles that rely heavily on premade purchasable assets that they then edit/customize for their needs. I will personally continue to support them monthly, and I still have great hope that they will achieve their vision and deliver a game changing horse game that will force the horse game industry as a whole to raise their standards and quality.

They had to release it now, because of the government funding they got. They are also gathering money to further the development of the game on steam

​@@heiniks I may not work in the industry but from what I'm seeing this is all kinds of terrible. How long did this take and how many devs do they have, again? This amount of work is worrying. They're focusing on wrong parts of development as well (customization instead of gameplay, unless you want that to be the only thing for the game). It also seems like they're trying to make a game for the first time ever which, if true, is very terrifying. I wouldn't be surprised if this either gets rug-pulled or development time goes down the drain because they have to rework the whole game after finally learning how to make a proper game.

@@heiniks I can understand having to release it because of the government funding, but its against Steam's TOS to use early access to crowdfund your game

@@PootisDaLoopis I'm confused by "it's against Steam's TOS to use early acess to crowdfund your game" could you explain in more detail?

@@idlydog1232 This is original from Steam TOS. What Early Access Is Not Early Access is not a way to crowdfund development of your product. You should not use Early Access solely to fund development. If you are counting on selling a specific number of units to complete your game, then you need to think carefully about what it would mean for you or your team if you don't sell that many units. Are you willing to continue developing the game without any sales? Are you willing to seek other forms of investment? Early Access is not a pre-purchase Early Access is not meant to be a form of pre-purchase, but a tool to get your game in front of Steam users and gather feedback while finishing your game.

ikr there are literally people going on about how this is wrong… they knew already and they reiterated that it was a pre-alpha MANY times no one is confused unless they dont read the updates… just let it play out a little bit more before saying anything is my opinion.

I think Astride themselves have been saying 'Pre-Alpha' - this is way too early in development to be a Beta

They wanted to release the game later, but couldn't because of the contract they signed to receive government funding.

They wanted to release the game later, but couldn't because of the contract they signed to receive government funding. It wasn't their choice and they knew that they would get a lot of comments like these

@@lovlyymackenzie oh i didnt know! how interesting🤔

They wanted to release the game later, but couldn't because of the contract they signed to receive government funding. It wasn't their choice, I do agree that 25€ is a lot, but you won't have to pay again for the full game, so it's a good investment.

@@catdotcom The game isn't nearly done. What if something goes wrong and the game won't release? Then congrats, you paid 25 for something that doesn't exist. And this happens a lot in the gaming industry

@@Lilian-vl5zv Yes, that's usually a risk you're taking when you support any game that is being made by anyone other than AAA studios. And sometimes, even AAA studios pull stuff like this. You don't have to buy the game if you don't want to, or if you don't trust the devs. That's totally up to you, I haven't bought it either. I just don't think the pricing is that absurd, because if the game does get finished, you'll have access to it in full from the start, for a pretty reasonable price.

They wanted to release the game later, but couldn't because of the contract they signed to receive government funding. It wasn't their choice, I do agree that 25€ is a lot, but you won't have to pay again for the full game (which will be, most likely, way more expensive), so it's a good investment.

absolutely not

⁠astride is in pre-alpha and will continue to be in development for years before it fully released, you can’t say the full game will be garbage rn

They wanted to release the game later, but couldn't because of the contract they signed to receive government funding. It wasn't their choice, I do agree that 25€ is a lot, but you won't have to pay again for the full game, so it's a good investment.

@@catdotcom it is only a good investment when the devs actually provide something in the future and right now, after the flops of ETG an Co. + what I have read about the development of the game (only one programmer, had to start over twice) I don't trust it enough to pay even a cent. It's better to pay 50€ for an actual game, then 25 for a pre-Alpha with a wonky future in my opinion.

@@mirib738 It is a indie game, so that's expected. Again, it's totally up for the individual, I personally have faith in this game, and I believe it'll be a good investment in the long run. They have been getting more support over time and significantly improving their game, and they've shown to be very dedicated to their game and fanbase. I just think people are really overreacting by pointing out "redflags", or saying that they were betrayed and lost faith in the game after the first public pre-alpha release of the game. The devs were always very transparent about what was coming to the game and the fact that publishing it so early on wasn't their choice, so I don't get the hate.

@@catdotcom I don't have faith in the game neither the developers, not after all the drama withe Riding Out, ETG and others (I still remember the Riding High scam, they also had some nice graphics and talked with people, till they disappeared one day). The support came mostly from people hoping to finally get a good horse game, but after this action the support dropt rapidly. I also see a lot of people praising them for being transperent but honestly, I don't see it. They did not tell people about the having to start over twice, tried to blame Unity for one Start-over, tride to blame steam and now, after one year, came forward with telling us that the original trailer had nothing to do with the game. Also them saying it was because of a contrect that they had to release the game? Was it so? We only have there word and that is worth nothing in the horse-game world. I have seen way to many games fail, especially the one with horses, to trust the developers on there word. I also don't think people are overreacting, they react according to the actions of the the devs (same can be seen with SSO right now, people have just endured it longer). Them charging 25€ for a pre-Alpha that is more or less just a 3D-horse-maker makes no sense and just looks scammy. But I have to ask you, why do you say you see it as a good investment, but don't invest yourself (saw one of your other comments where you told a person you would not buy the game either)?

@@mirib738 They did tell people about the start over though? That's why I've not been surprised at all about the release, I knew about what was going on and knew what to expect. They communicated about it on their Discord. The trailer was the initial version of the game, which they had to start over again. Regardless, they needed a initial trailer to promove their project, not everything in the trailer needs to be final. That's how most indie projects work, they show a prototype, and people that are interested help back the project. They're communicating with us, being clear about what's going on, what else do you need? Legal documents? Why are you assuming so many negative things about a game that's on pre-alpha still? The "horse-game world" is not different from the game development community in general. There's failed projects, there's scams, and there's great indie projects. Again, this is all up for the individual, but I think it's a project worth supporting, and I'm optimistic about it. If anything, I think it's more likely for this game to fail because people refuse to be patient with the development, than because of the devs. I've seen bad games and bad devs before, Astride hasn't shown to have any glaring problems yet.

They wanted to release the game later, but couldn't because of the contract they signed to receive government funding. It wasn't their choice and they knew that they would get a lot of comments like these

It's in pre-alpha, not even in beta yet. You can't determine if it's mid this early on.

@@catdotcom in pre alfa in other games you atleast do something more than making character and ride in a 30x30 paddock.

He's not. He said this multiple times

And so what if he was? What a weird thing to comment