Has the concept of Early Access gone too far?

[Easy Rhino]

8-9 or years ago "Early Access" was a way for small development shops to finance their game. Today however if you check early access games you have a majority of them that are 3-4 years old still in early access. What are the benefits to the consumer of purchasing an early access game?

 

[ir_cow]

Basically Early Access is the new kickstarter except they don't have to finish the game. It is usually a scam and I won't buy up for a unfinished game that has no timeline for completion.

 

[nguyen]

I only ever bought 2 early access games, they were PUBG and Baldur Gate 3 which provided incredible value.

 

[AsRock]

8-9 or years ago "Early Access" was a way for small development shops to finance their game. Today however if you check early access games you have a majority of them that are 3-4 years old still in early access. What are the benefits to the consumer of purchasing an early access game?

7 days to die has gone though many changes over 12+? years and basically you should have a version you like. Never mind the mod community which update the newer versions and can have options you miss from older versions of the game.

And yes you can still today after 1.0 came out still download the older versions.

But i cannot see why it stayed early access unless it's some thing to do with steam and a agreement(s) with the Fun Pimps.

Maybe it's a question you should ask them or others to see why.

I only ever bought 2 early access games, they were PUBG and Baldur Gate 3 which provided incredible value.

We did too as being big fans of Dos 1 and 2 even played though them twice at least. How ever with the new D&D BS we just have not played it much at all.

 

[Ruru]

Luckily I played one early access VR game for 119min in under two weeks so I could refund it. Realized that it was basically a tech demo and basically abandoned.

 

[unwind-protect]

Well, UBOAT went from EA to full with a huge update. Sometimes it works.

 

[kapone32]

Everspace2 was Early access and I finished 90% of the campaign before it was released.

 

[natr0n]

7 Days to Die on Steam

7 Days to Die is an open-world game that is a unique combination of first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing games. Play the definitive zombie survival sandbox RPG that came first. Navezgane awaits!

store.steampowered.com

10 and a half years in early access. I still havent played it.
This has to be a record for longest early access.

 

[dirtyferret]

8-9 or years ago "Early Access" was a way for small development shops to finance their game. Today however if you check early access games you have a majority of them that are 3-4 years old still in early access. What are the benefits to the consumer of purchasing an early access game?

the only game I purchased early access was BG3 and you knew Larian would finish the game. Glad I did, enjoyed early access and the finished product as well. I know eleventh hour used early access to help put together Last Epoch and that seemed to go well for them otherwise I agree with ir_cow as most EA are scams unless free.

*I'd would get EA to Divinity Original Sin III if they go that route

What are the benefits to the consumer of purchasing an early access game?

mostly you get to give some feedback to the developer and "support" those few specific games you want to see made by more independent developers

 

[ir_cow]

7 days to die has gone though many changes over 12+? years and basically you should have a version you like. Never mind the mod community which update the newer versions and can have options you miss from older versions of the game.

I bought 7 Days on the PS4 when it came out. Didn't know it was still in Beta for years after. Just thought it was a fun, but really bad zombie game lol.

 

[R0H1T]

I'm thinking about that never ending pre alpha(?) which has probably already cost its backers over a billion? Anyone remember the name

 

[Frick]

There's also the discussion of what "finished game" means. Stardew Valley still gets updates, as does Terraria, deep into their "finished" state. I'm playing Timberborn a lot and honestly I don't see any difference between that and a game on version 1.22. Or heck, what about No Mans Sky, or like Europa Universalis 4, a game I want to get back into but at this point it is so different from when I was playing it I don't even know where to start? To me there is very little functional difference between that and a good Early Access game. As with everything there are good examples and bad examples of everything. If an EA game or its devs seem fishy, treat it as you would a "finished" game. Don't buy it.

 

[ir_cow]

I'm thinking about that never ending pre alpha(?) which has probably already cost its backers over a billion? Anyone remember the name

Star Citizen is supposedly finally leaving alpha this year. Now that is the funny scam. Somehow people haven't figured it out yet.

 

[wNotyarD]

I'm thinking about that never ending pre alpha(?) which has probably already cost its backers over a billion? Anyone remember the name

Closest that comes to mind is Star Citizen.

 

[R0H1T]

It is Star Citizen.

Star Citizen is supposedly finally leaving alpha this year. Now that is the funny scam. Somehow people haven't figured it out yet.

It's just hopium at this point in time, really though I wouldn't want anyone to do what CIG did to its fans if you can call them that.

 

[64K]

I'm thinking about that never ending pre alpha(?) which has probably already cost its backers over a billion? Anyone remember the name

716 million dollars so far according to their site and.....still in Alpha. I'm sure the $42,000 Ship Package is helping to get to that billion dollars.

 

[Devon68]

I've reviewed 7 days to die 7 years ago.
It was a gift from my best friend for my birthday. Seeing how much it cost's now I'm happy he got it for me for 10$. But it's still a fun game and would recommend it. Played it since alpha 13 or 14.

 

[Vya Domus]

Early access went too far the day it became a thing, the concept of paying for an unfinished product has and will always be ludicrous.

 

[Frick]

Early access went too far the day it became a thing, the concept of paying for an unfinished product has and will always be ludicrous.

It depends on the expectations and what you mean by "finished". Timberborn doesn't feel unfinished at all, for instance. Do you consider No Man's Sky unfinished, or Stardew Valley?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I try to avoid EA titles because there is no guarantee that those games will ever get finished or if they do get finished. They might not resemble the original concept of the game that got you hooked on it in the first place.

Case in point: DayZ... Played the hell out of the mod loved every second of it. Bohemia announced the standalone and you can pay for early access. It was another possibly 3-6years (maybe even 8 years) before that game was finally released and even then 1.0 was just taped over 'alpha' and the game pushed out the door because Bohemia didnt want to work on it anymore.

Didnt really enjoy the mechanics of the standalone and by the time the game was finally released I had moved onto other games and I really didnt care about zombies anymore.

Otherwise I hear a lot about early access games that never leave early access because either the devs run out of money to carry on so abandon the project or enough people bought into early access on steam for them to not even bother carrying on with development and do a runner with the money.

 

[Solaris17]

Early access went too far the day it became a thing, the concept of paying for an unfinished product has and will always be ludicrous.

Yes. Sign up to be a beta tester and hope you are the 1 out of X were the days. Paying for early access is crazy.

 

[unwind-protect]

Early access went too far the day it became a thing, the concept of paying for an unfinished product has and will always be ludicrous.

Better not get a Tesla then

 

[basco]

i did not want to give ya a sad face so i write it down that i have a sad face on this topic .

 

[skizzo]

since everyone is focusing on the negatives here....maybe a positive side will help....

Hades

and the current in development Hades II

Without knowing better, I would assume their earlier game Bastion was also original developed with early access.

I haven't played Hades II yet, and I did not buy Hades until it was in it's 1.0+ release state, not because of anything regarding early access, just happened to be when I finally said "OK, everyone keeps praising this game, I'll give it a try".

Supergiant Games seems to have a good grasp on how to use this early access approach. They clearly tailored the games to the consumer's feedback. Which is why their games mostly get nothing but praise. They deliver what the customer wants.