Epic today released what they are calling a "beta" demo for their upcoming first person shooter Unreal Tournament 2004 (henceforth to be known as UT2004). I had actually never played the original Unreal Tournament until the release of the UT2003 demo a while back. I found it so incredibly fun that I rushed out and purchased a copy of the original, then purchased the newer version a little while after release. And today Epic has cemented in my mind one simple fact.

Yes, I will be buying yet another game of theirs.

The bar for all other games has been raised. If not in the gameplay (which I found to be wonderful), but at least in the quality of the demo. They released a demo that has more options in it than some full games. Not only are there multiple maps to play, they let you taste many of the final game's great gameplay modes. And they are letting you do this for free, without time restrictions, without neutering the online capabilities. Once again it is refreshing to find a game developer who actually thinks that the fans/consumers deserve a little more than a buggy game that won't be supported. In the past Epic has released and insane amount of additional content for their UT games, demonstrating a real commitment to the gaming community. With the release of such a powerful and robust demo it would appear that, yet again, they are demonstrating their love for their work and their commitment to the fans.

Will they sell lots of copies? You bet. But are they also looking out for their consumers? I think it is obvious they are. And as a gamer I thank them. It is becoming very rare these days to find a developer who will (and can) truly stand behind their games. And I choose to support those developers by purchasing their products. Epic is one of those.

Stardock is another. And I don't just say that because this is Brad's site. I say it because it is true, and I think devs that do this need to be recognized. Just like Epic, Stardock has released an extremely admirable amount of additional content and support for their fabulous 4x game Galactic Civilizations. To be honest, the only reason I purchased Galactic Civilizations was to support Stardock, as I was not impressed with the demo. But Stardock had demonstrated a real commitment to the community, and I felt the need to recognize that. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover one of the greatest strategy games of my life.

So kudos to the devs, like Epic and Stardock, who recognize that neutered demos, nasty copy protection (Epic removed theirs in the most recent UT2003 update many months ago) and such only hurt those honest fans who want to own the game and support the devs. Give Epic a hand for releasing, for free, hours and hours of gaming goodness the world over.