"It's getting harder on Steam, sadly"
  • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    63·
    5 days ago

    The model was broken by publishers, not consumers. Releasing early access without an actual roadmap or intention to ever release fully has become was too normal. So of course early access has lost its meaning

  • Darkonion@lemmy.worldEnglish
    59·
    5 days ago

    I am fine with early access as long as the price is reflective of ‘the game it is’ instead of ‘the game it could be’.

    • 13igTyme@piefed.socialEnglish
      27·
      5 days ago

      The problem them is all the people that complain and review bomb when the price goes up for 1.0.

      The reality is gamers complain too fucking much about every and anything.

        • madmantis24@lemmy.wtfEnglish
          1·
          4 days ago

          Unironically, I blame Redlettermedia blowing up with the Mr. Plinkett reviews They were obviously doing a bit with a parody of cranky old men who complain about their niche interests, but it got out of hand

      • notfromhere@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2·
        3 days ago

        Maybe they should have the full price listed during early access so all that happens is the discount goes away for hard launch

  • Washedupcynic@lemmy.caEnglish
    6·
    3 days ago

    I don’t fuck with early access products that aren’t free. I’m not paying for something that’s unfinished.

  • rumschlumpel@feddit.orgEnglish
    40·
    5 days ago

    People just buy an early access game like they buy a normal game and treat it like that’s the game."

    Too many times, that ends up being the truth anyway because the game doesn’t see much additional development…

    TBH I’m a bit burned out from early access anyway, even if the game is actually good at 1.0 I just don’t want to play unfinished games all the time, it’s annoying to replay the first part multiple times, when it’s the type of game I’d play through exactly once (which is most games that I play).

  • Seppo@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    18·
    4 days ago

    There’s no such thing as early access. If anyone can buy and play the game, then that’s a release.

  • steelplatedmech@piefed.caEnglish
    25·
    4 days ago

    It lost its meaning long ago when early access did not have buyer protection after a length of time that gave the option for refunds, so more people treated them as games to be viewed as regular releases you buy if you are happy with its current state.

  • gastroglizzy@piefed.socialEnglish
    21·
    5 days ago

    People just buy an early access game like they buy a normal game and treat it like that’s the game.

    Yeah, because devs release an early access game then treat it like that’s the game.

  • Wildmimic@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    12·
    4 days ago

    So many people buying into early access titles do not realize how many games never get released regardless how much work was already put into them, and because of a lot more reasons than “we ran out of money”. Personal health of the main dev, disagreements within a dev team, financial issues, Real Live™ happening, hardware failure and data loss and so on can all stop a project before it can get a 1.0 release. Before early access, these titles simply never appeared on the market, preventing people getting burnt.

    I think early access has helped to bring more projects to a final 1.0, but financing is just one part of the equation, and many gamers do not realize that. I only buy EA titles that are very obviously passion projects that have had regular and meaningful updates for a while and have a realistic roadmap that doesn’t suffer from feature creep. Everything else i am interested in, i simply wait - better to pay 10 bucks more for a finished project than 10 bucks less for something that never will get finished.

  • codydodd@lemmy.caEnglish
    15·
    5 days ago

    Its partly why for our indie title hermertia wars we are making playtests free and ubiquitous on our steam page instead of launching as early access ;)

  • thingsiplay@lemmy.mlEnglish
    13·
    5 days ago

    At least those games are marked as Early Access. I personally do not treat Early Access games as normal and in most cases wait until they get a version 1.0 release. This is much better than a fake v1.0 release of AAA games.

  • snoons@lemmy.caEnglish
    13·
    5 days ago

    One of my favourite games is also experiencing this right now. It was released in early access and people were complaining on day one about there being not enough content and some are still complaining after only the second update. Like, come the fuck on.

  • Ludicrous0251@piefed.zipEnglish
    11·
    5 days ago

    Ironic considering Palworld spent quite a while in EA and still came out of it as a buggy poorly optimized mess.

    Don’t get me wrong, the gameplay is fun, but it is not smooth. One week in they killed all custom resolutions because a little bit of Japanese text would crash the game FFS.

  • frongt@lemmy.zipEnglish
    10·
    5 days ago

    Honestly I’ve never understood the early access program except as a cash grab.

    • stevles@aussie.zoneEnglish
      13·
      5 days ago

      For indie devs it makes sense, community feedback will help them as they can’t possibly do all of the testing and brainstorming themselves (particularly with a single dev). Other than that? Yeah, it’s a cash grab.

    • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      4 days ago

      It’s intended as an open collaborative system. Small developers get an early injection of cash to fund further development. They can also get continuous feedback, from the community, as they develop. For smaller companies, this can be critical to help keep them on the path that makes the game better.

      In turn, the community gets to have a say in how the game is shaped. They also get to play it early and watch it grow. It’s often also cheaper to buy early.

      When used right, it’s awesome. Unfortunately it gets abused a bit right now. Bigger companies using it as a bug fixing tool is problematic, particularly when priced at full price. Also some (intentionally or not) do a “take the money and run”.

      • TerHu@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        5 days ago

        Similarly, Asetto Corsa Rally doesn’t have much content yet, but is a banger nevertheless. and given the company, one can expect it to grow and improve i think.

      • KubeRoot@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        1·
        4 days ago

        Hold on, Satisfactory? Wasn’t that game on kickstarter with crowd funding promising a steam release to backers, and then released as an epic exclusive for a year?

  • TachyonTele_Esq@piefed.socialEnglish
    8·
    5 days ago

    Windrose seems to be one of the latest scams. They haven’t updated their game in months, and it’s just the very first release.