I don’t know anywhere as much about the topic as Joe, and I do wish he had given more detailed feedback than “good talk,” but here’s my two cents. In many cases, it makes sense to have an MVP. Open betas, for instance, are incredibly useful for testing, and building initial support for a product. A lot of games rely on open betas, and that’s fine. I’ve been participating in the open beta for Gods Unchained, and it seems to be doing well for them.
Think about how much additional advertising they’re getting because people like me are engaging with their product, in open beta, and writing about it.
Of course, this idea is nothing new. Restaurants are a great example. A lot of restaurants have soft openings to test the water and refine their menu and service, or even do pop-ups to get initial support. Or how about in entertainment? Why produce an entire series when you haven’t tested the waters, especially if you don’t have the spare resources to do it? I recently finished up a review of the Hazbin Hotel pilot, and I’m already craving more. I wouldn’t be craving much of anything if there wasn’t a pilot, or I hadn’t become aware of it.
Again, it’s a great option to get initial support and get initial market feedback. And it acts as wonderful material for initial advertising and community support. The two products that I mentioned are just a couple of the many examples of MVPs that are clearly beneficial.
