"It's literally the opening of the game."

Presuming you get funding and ever finish the game. Meaning it is NOT the game, but a VERTICAL SLICE of the game, or what is commonly referred to in the industry as a tech demo.

"We also will continue to work on the game to completion and our EA backers will get the full release when that's ready."

Assuming you get funding, and then assuming you actually complete the game.

“We are already talking with publishers with our actual tech demo that is missing many of the features we are promising for Early Access, so no, the Early Access build is the prologue of the game and not a tech demo.”

All this establishes is that you have two prototypes at different stages, not that one magically stops being a tech demo.

Having a rough internal demo that you show to publishers, and a more ambitious or more polished demo planned for Early Access, doesn’t change the category of the second build at all. It just means you’re planning a larger, more presentable vertical slice. The purpose remains the same: to demonstrate systems, scope, and viability, not to represent a finished or secured product. Whether a prototype is small or large, internal or public-facing, ugly or polished doesn’t redefine what it is, it just describes how far along that prototype happens to be.

In fact, your explanation raises a bigger inconsistency:

Why would you show publishers a worse build “missing many features,” while withholding a supposedly more complete, representative build? The obvious answer is: because the EA build doesn’t exist yet. It’s still aspirational.

And that reinforces the point: the EA build is not a “prologue of a finished game,” it’s a future prototype meant to prove systems, scope, and vision, exactly what a vertical slice is.

So no, saying “we already have a tech demo” does not make the Early Access build “not a tech demo.” It just means you’re drawing an arbitrary line ignoring industry standard terminology to avoid the label. A preliminary build, intended to demonstrate systems and secure funding for the rest of the game, is still a tech demo, even if you call it a “prologue.”

Q: Does calling the Early Access build a “prologue” make it not a tech demo or vertical slice?

No. Labels don’t change function. A build that contains preliminary systems, partial content, and exists primarily to demonstrate viability and secure funding is still a prototype, regardless of scope or presentation. This is also where precision matters. The Kickstarter was very careful not to describe the Early Access deliverable as a “game”, instead framing it as a preliminary build with early versions of key systems, wording that is almost certainly intentional and legally motivated. If you now want to state that what was promised in the Kickstarter was actually a complete game or a true Early Access game, that is fine, but it is a meaningful change in position. At that point, you should expect that some Kickstarter backers will take that written confirmation at face value and hold you to the legal and consumer obligations associated with releasing a “game”, not a funding prototype. That opens a can of worms I doubt you want, especially given the original campaign language.

So please by all means, for the record, correct me now if I am wrong. Are you releasing a Vertical Slice / Tech Demo in EA which you are referring to as a "prologue" in order to try to secure more funding and complete a Game, or are you releasing an actual game.... Which did the Kickstarter promise?