Darius D Hansley - 2025-05-07
Early Access is Killing Games
Darius D Hansley - 2025-05-07
I know saying that Early Access is killing games sound a bit harsh and to broad of a statement. So instead let's try to say it differently.
Okay I tried but it seems that I still can't describe this topic without being blunt about the situation. The fact is that games being in early access can potentially ruin the indie game market because to many developers are trying to deliver a promise may that may not come true.
Recently there have been several games that stay in early access or have a betas attached to them only for the game itself to release at a much later date.This usually causes the game to get swept under the rug compared to other games that are out. Marvel Rivals is a great example of a game that can bury another games player base because it has an official launch with actual marketing behind it.Granted you can argue that Marvel Characters are the only reason why the game is popular but you see my point hopefully.
If a player gets to experience a game for more then one year then genuinely they make the assumption that they have already put hours into the game and can move on to the next big thing.
Having a game in Early Access for a long period of time means that the game is no longer fresh in the player's mind and more than likely they will be incentivized to go play something else that is brand new to them. Granted it's possible to still have people who are dedicated to that game that you're making and want to do whatever it takes to support you, but it's hard to support a developer for years without knowing whether there will be any payoff.
Another thing to mention is whether the game will have a successful launch or get cancelled before release.
Many times I have witnessed a game with great potential literally never make it to launch.Im sure you can think of a game that you were genuinely excited for.It has a Kickstarter,amazing graphics a good concept and the developers have a Bluesky account,what could go wrong
Life happens and sometimes financial struggles or time just gets the best of us and suddenly that game no longer will be getting a release date because the developers have their own personal issues to attend.Making they have a parent company that shuts them down? Maybe they run out of money because they are testing services to often.Maybe a war is happening and their life's are changed.Maybe their house floods and destroys their equipment. Do you get what I'm saying?
Star Atlas - stayed in development for more then a decade with more the 1 million in crowdfunding only to STILL be unreleased to the world.
More often then not if your a serious gamer that doesn't fall prey to fomo or 2 day early access to play the game early then you might be someone who understands what actually sells a game and gives it value. Becuase of this we expect to know what can we get out of the next year of playing this game.Again having a great idea is fine but you are setting yourself up for failure as a developer by not providing what your thoughts are internally to any issue or improvements that you are making to your game.Please consider that once someone gets a good understanding of your game they will decide whether or not it's worth investing in based on the mechanics you provide.
For Example - SUPERVIVE is a game in early access on steams that has a small player count less then 1100 not because of the game loop itself.The game is quit fun to play back to back but more importantly players don't see that games future, simply because the developers haven't put to much into marketing and focus on adding things to their store and battle pass system. YES THERE ARE CHARACTER UPDATES,AND QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES but again this brings me to my point. This brings no hope for whether this game will be good to play alone or recommend to friends. There has to be a promise that comes with a great pay off for the player. Rather then hoping that this game will take off and be good because of having no vision of the future,a player could recommend this game for now put it on their list of fav games to play daily all with confidence that it will get better and improve.
As a developer I know how hard it is to want something to be ‘just perfect’ on release. But have you asked yourself what do you consider to be a state in which you could sell or market the game? Meaning how do you know what players will consider to be a finished game.Guess what? You don't! Unless the player base tells you their issues and why the game feels incomplete or isn't worth the price tag that you place on it ,you will have no clue as to what makes your product good or bad or what needs to be improved.
For example - 2XKO is a fighting game by riot that was announced in 2019,since then the game has had a few alphas and players have been able to play it.But it has been almost six years!
The player base literally feels like they have been playing a game for six years without actual commitment to launch the game.AND TO TOP IT OFF THIER NEWEST ALPHA RECENTLY CHANGED EVERY ASPECT OF HOW THE GAME WORKS BECAUSE THEY WERE LISTENING TO THE CRITICISM AND CHANGING THINGS SO OFTEN THAT NOW PLAYERS ARE CONFUSED AND DONT KNOW WHAT THE BASE GAME PLAY FEELS LIKE ANYMORE.
Precisely it is. But this is the number one reason why I am writing this article. Early Access means that for the most part the game is still a work in progress .Why am I constantly seeing games in Early Access that have a fair amount of Polish a decent player base a store, a battle pass, an official discord, official social media platforms,etc. My problem is that I'm seeing games that are way beyond what beta testing is and are considered to be complete games,yet they are held on as early access because the developer considers it incomplete.If It's so incomplete why make players play it in the first place with an online store for people to buy skins instead of implementing feature after feature for months,confusing the player as to when they should be excited for something they are putting their time and money into.( It drives me crazy when a game is riddled with bugs but the developers have a working shop/ store that can take your money without any issues )
The best way to solve this is by establishing what you consider to be a base 1.0 version of the game that is satisfying enough at launch that has the least amount of bugs, an overall gameplay loop that keeps the players engaged,great marketing and word of mouth to add new players and with out an extensive amount of features no one asked for. If your player base wants accessibility options they will tell you, if they want you to add a camera mode because they enjoy your game's art style, they will tell you. If you're designing a character and people have suggestions and improvements, they will tell you. Most games have a survey option these days that you can choose to fill out in order to get feedback.
I'm not saying that devs are purposely trying to make money putting out low effort games and tricking players to buy something in their store just for shits and giggles. I just want developers to really consider how to properly utilize early access without shooting themselves in the foot.
Would you spend money on something knowing that it has a chance to disappear forever?
Would you ride the hype wave of a particular piece of media for years without getting tired of waiting for it to be ‘the next best thing and blow up’?
Would you promise something to someone you love by telling them ‘eventually we will get married’?
Hopefully you would not do these things and while they do have different comparisons in certain aspects.PLAYERS DESERVE TO HAVE THIER MOMENT OF SATISFACTION WHILE DEVS ALSO HAVE THIER MOMENT OF SUCCESS.
And by giving players the actual launch of a game that they need you are doing both you and your players a good service. The relationship between players and developers is getting really thin over the years due to bad communication and misinterpretation of game features and expectations. I hope this read found you well and if not,at least I released this article for people to read without talking about doing it for years and never committing.