author: luckie
Steam Early Access keeps on growing
More and more titles featured in Steam Early Access manage to come out as full games. The popularity and reliability of the program grows, although it usually takes some time for an Early Access project to be completed.
Steam Early Access program has been with us for three years now since its launch in March 2013, and Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) decided to look closely into its results. It turns out Early Access is doing quite well, as it saw the majority of the games through to their full release: 68% of titles that launched in Early Access in 2013 have been released as full games, according to EEDAR’s data. The research also shows that the program is growing in popularity among game developers, as there were 573 games to enter Early Access in 2015 compared with 104 in 2013.
However, the very fact that a game reaches a full release is not always a success in itself. First of all, let’s consider the time most games need to get to a 1.0 version. On average, it ranges from 160 days for puzzle games to 328 days when it comes to simulators. Many players become bored with a title before they even lay their hands on the full version.
Furthermore, there’s the issue of quality. A significant number of games that leave Early Access are below expectations. Take Spacebase DF-9 for example; in the wake of its untimely full release the game appeared to be incomplete in the eyes of many fans. Nevertheless, Steam Early Access brought us many good games, which may have never seen daylight if not for the program. And given its ever growing popularity and optimistic prospects Early Access is bound to stay.