Early Access is now officially out of hand

saintdefender · 4 Apr 2018 at 10:23

It has been getting out of hand now for a while, but over the past couple of years it has hit rock bottom. The market is now flooded with early access titles, 99% of which will either stay in early access or never come out of early access.

I for one, am getting sick of these titles flooding the market and dominating the "New releases" and "top sellers" charts. Frankly, I am sick of early access in general. I tried it once, got bitten and never got my money back. (Godus, for those who are wondering)

Steam doesn't seem to care either, they let this problem grow worst and worst, meanwhile the only games that are not early access are AAA games.

I am not saying early access titles do not belong, but lately its so easy for developers to stick that tag on there and upload to steam that we don't get to look forward to games anymore, because players are buying into early access and most developers are milking it. The days of looking on steam for exciting new releases is gone, all we get now are unfinished products.

How many times have you gone on steam, saw a game that you think looks cool, only to find out its Early Access? I bet it happens all the time and I am getting sick and tired of it.

I am sorry for this rant, however I do honestly believe something needs to be done about it, because right now all Steam is becoming known for is a platform for betas and newly released AAA games.

steve45 · 4 Apr 2018 at 10:32

Sure its getting a bit out of hand, but there are still some great games and some developers who actively update and communicate with the community, Steam needs to actively police/control the early access thing as its too easy at the moment for a developer to just give up before full release with no comeback.
For me the bigger issue with steam for me is the absolute torrent of shoddy low rate "Indie" games that seem to be flooding the steam store at the moment, it makes the upcoming tab useless.

Rimsy · 4 Apr 2018 at 11:30

Totally agree. I made the mistake of buying an RTS early access game over a year ago thinking foolishly that it would be completed in good time and it's barely been touched.
Small Devs say it's the only way they can make games these days....
PC Gaming is in a bad way!

x-st · 4 Apr 2018 at 11:38

Can't you change your Steam Store settings so that you don't view Early Access titles?

wnb · 4 Apr 2018 at 11:49

saintdefender said:
It has been getting out of hand now for a while, but over the past couple of years it has hit rock bottom. The market is now flooded with early access titles, 99% of which will either stay in early access or never come out of early access.

I for one, am getting sick of these titles flooding the market and dominating the "New releases" and "top sellers" charts. Frankly, I am sick of early access in general. I tried it once, got bitten and never got my money back. (Godus, for those who are wondering)

Steam doesn't seem to care either, they let this problem grow worst and worst, meanwhile the only games that are not early access are AAA games.

I am not saying early access titles do not belong, but lately its so easy for developers to stick that tag on there and upload to steam that we don't get to look forward to games anymore, because players are buying into early access and most developers are milking it. The days of looking on steam for exciting new releases is gone, all we get now are unfinished products.

How many times have you gone on steam, saw a game that you think looks cool, only to find out its Early Access? I bet it happens all the time and I am getting sick and tired of it.

I am sorry for this rant, however I do honestly believe something needs to be done about it, because right now all Steam is becoming known for is a platform for betas and newly released AAA games.

I also got bit by Godus

Last time I buy a game from Peter whatshisface.

barmyllama · 4 Apr 2018 at 13:26

I don't really pay attention to it anymore but I've had good and bad experiences.

I bought Assetto Corsa and Wreckfest, one was released and very well.supoorted aftrrwards. The other is still languishing.

I just see it as another version of pre-ordeing, accept with even more risk. Which is why I haven't pre-ordered a game since Battlefield 3 and bought and early access title since Wreckfest.

Kelt · 4 Apr 2018 at 13:39

Not a problem for me, I just don't support early access games.

andicole0 · 4 Apr 2018 at 13:48

You do have to be so careful, Kingdom Come Deliverance has worked for me, the game was produced and in a reasonable time. Shroud of the Avatar turned out not to be for me and Star Citizen is an example of how the developer can get carried away with themselves.
Andi.

mrbazmondo · 4 Apr 2018 at 13:55

There should be a really low maximum price on early access games. They're not complete and may never be. That and the whole game can be changed to be so completely different that you don't like it any more.

james.miller · 4 Apr 2018 at 13:58

Umm well. The system shock remake has become a big fat lemon so that's annoying. Wreckfest was exciting but I'm over that now. star forge...urgh.

Prison architect was probably the best example of an early access title delivering the goods, otherwise my experience has been pretty poor

Yaayuh! · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:02

I don't buy into Early Access, havn't done for a long while.

mrbazmondo said:
There should be a really low maximum price on early access games. They're not complete and may never be. That and the whole game can be changed to be so completely different that you don't like it any more.

This is exactly what i've been saying for a while, set a limit of £10-£15 max on Early Access titles.
Steam need to also ensure that deadlines are met by devs and have a penalty system in place if they're not met, be it monetary, marketing or status.

humanlaptop · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:10

Ive funded so many EA games that I feel sick looking at my Steam... probably not as many as some, but here are the highlights...

DayZ - we all did it, didnt we?
H1Z1 (and its spin offs)... got a lot out of this, but its gone off the rails in terms of Survival
ARK - enjoyed it, performance killed me, I think its now released?
Battalion 1944 - junk
Foxhole - its alright, needs more content
Holdfast - see above, but a lot more positive about this
Miscreated - theres a theme here.. survival... could be a lot better than it is in all honesty
Prison Architect - thats released as well I think
Rust - barely played it as no one else in my group got it
Space Engineers - was fun for a brief period
Wreckfest - was crap, now fun

Relentless81 · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:17

Hunt Showdown. Came out of alpha and into EA, they patched it and killed it, it's also now rife with suspect players

I still love it though, so close to being one of the best games ever made if they develop it further, fix the performance issues and the balancing

Yaayuh! · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:17

humanlaptop said:
Ive funded so many EA games that I feel sick looking at my Steam... probably not as many as some, but here are the highlights...

Space Engineers - was fun for a brief period

This is the only one on that list that i bought into years ago. Still enjoying it a lot.

~>Dg<~ · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:19

some are a joke i recently looked into if there is a governing body to stop some of the trash that comes out.there should be one to prevent some games from being a scam which basically they are if they are either never finished or labelled in big red letters dayz style to protect them .when basically the game is broke.

rather than just be negative about new early access games some are really great , work and the idea in a perfect plan can work well. Dirt rally for eg was early access and turned out to be the best rally game ever made.so some companies bring the product promised some dont.

i personally think Dayz Sa and the people behind it should have been sued.how they can even say that this year they bringing it to xbox is joke.

it would be nice if there was a governing body to look into titles and see if the title coming to market is legitimate and realistic in being finished and if not but money recieved people refunded.either through steam (which would get steam to act properly but they get 30 percent on every new title on their platform at mo so they want them new titles ! ) or from the company direct.the thing is any project that made a title that didnt get finished they would just get the money then go bankrupt to dodge paying out.

Darujhistan · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:28

saintdefender said:
It has been getting out of hand now for a while, but over the past couple of years it has hit rock bottom. The market is now flooded with early access titles, 99% of which will either stay in early access or never come out of early access.

I for one, am getting sick of these titles flooding the market and dominating the "New releases" and "top sellers" charts. Frankly, I am sick of early access in general. I tried it once, got bitten and never got my money back. (Godus, for those who are wondering)

Steam doesn't seem to care either, they let this problem grow worst and worst, meanwhile the only games that are not early access are AAA games.

I am not saying early access titles do not belong, but lately its so easy for developers to stick that tag on there and upload to steam that we don't get to look forward to games anymore, because players are buying into early access and most developers are milking it. The days of looking on steam for exciting new releases is gone, all we get now are unfinished products.

How many times have you gone on steam, saw a game that you think looks cool, only to find out its Early Access? I bet it happens all the time and I am getting sick and tired of it.

I am sorry for this rant, however I do honestly believe something needs to be done about it, because right now all Steam is becoming known for is a platform for betas and newly released AAA games.

If you're daft enough to spend money on unfinished game that might not ever see the light of day, them more fool you. If you can't wait to play a title that looks 'cool' then you deserve all you get.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRDgihVDEko

Also it's "worse and worse" not "worst and worst" why can no-one spell this properly these days?

eekfek · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:31

Yep. I'd prefer there to be no early access to unfinished games but the refund option on steam is a blessing.

Randomface74 · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:34

x-st said:
Can't you change your Steam Store settings so that you don't view Early Access titles?

I'd like to know the answer to this. I'd use this feature, but atm I can't find it if it exists.

Spacedeck · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:38

billysielu said:
I'd like to know the answer to this. I'd use this feature, but atm I can't find it if it exists.

Seems you can do, not that I ever bothered to check all this time though as I ignore most of what the store throws at me.

Click name in top right corner and go preferences.

Tombstone · 4 Apr 2018 at 14:46

It can be hit or miss but there are still some absolute gems out there via early access, Oxygen Not Included is a corker for example and need I say more about the superb Subnautica