What happens to unfinished versions of games?

[Maximilian]

Like the unfinished starcraft that was built on the warcraft II engine, and resident evil 1.5, what happens to that stuff? Its canned for a good reason i guess but it would be interesting to play through it. If a modder or someone could make the game work it would be fun to play, even if it crashed halfway through due to running out of content or whatever.

So what happens to these canned versions of games? Do they delete them or store them away??

 

[Zenoth]

It's difficult to say without being a developer, only they could answer with precision and details, but from a gamer point of view I would presume that they keep certain of the game's assets "just in case" or because they had a contract or something along those lines, or they simply delete and destroy everything, both digitally and physically. And sometimes nothing is done against the software itself, but the company is bought, or they close their doors and the game(s) become abandonware.

 

[KaOTiK]

It is stored away. We never threw stuff out. Going back to that old stuff can give you ideas for new things and it can also show you if what you have in mind is a failure.

It all depends on the place you work though, some will allow access to that stuff, others it is pretty much all but forgotten in some closet never to be seen again.

 

[erwos]

Obviously, they stash them away. You don't just toss out code.

Now, if the developer goes out of business, the code and other assets might go to a creditor, which is where things could get really interesting, I suppose.

 

[Trevelyan]

Everything is downloaded to DVDs and then put in nondescript wooden cases and stored in a government owned warehouse.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Trevelyan
Everything is downloaded to DVDs and then put in nondescript wooden cases and stored in a government owned warehouse.

Not far from the truth.



The one game I did some work for that was stopped all the content was stored to tape, not sure if they would use that now it was all they had at the time, and that tape became property of the publisher, who had paid for the development. When you do the work you already sign away all your personal rights to the game so what they did with it who knows. It may just be in some case in some warehouse somewhere. Or it might be in the dump


I got in trouble about two years ago for using a character I designed, textured, animated on a resume because some exec saw it that was from the former company. It is bad when an artist can't even use a copy of their own work in their own resume.

 

[StinkyPinky]

I never got into SMAC for some reason, despite loving those types of games. I'd rather see a Civ 5.