Is "Experimentals" a common term for game development?

[Draconiator]

I've never heard it used besides on the forums here.

[Kermanzooming]

Neither have I, although it fits quite well the KSP experience

[Corona688]

It's a term that programmers use a lot.  Experimentals are test pre-releases usually only seen in-house and not released to the public at large.  Our intense interest in KSP's updates, and the way we've been deeply involved with their test updates from the beginning, is how it ended up being used here.  I remember a huge uproar when they stopped releasing most of the experimental releases except to a select few testers.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Corona688