Surviving Early Access
- Carlos Melendez
- Jan 26, 2017
- 4 min read
It’s no secret that the biggest trend in PC gaming as of late is a term that invokes mixed reactions. For those of you who don’t know early access is a business practice of sorts made famous by games such as Minecraft which allows developers to sell their game early, usually at a discounted price, and in exchange the player base can play the game before it is finished and be involved in the active development of the game.
Sounds great right? Well sort of. On one hand this has allowed smaller studios and indie developers to really shine and receive funding to actively develop games while taking advantage of Steam’s community platform. On the flip-side however no business model is perfect and most, if not all active PC gamers have heard the stories of early access disaster; games perpetually in early access, greedy developers selling out and worst of all the developer abandoning their project leaving their fan base high and dry.
I know that last part sounds scary and I myself was burned by the Stomping Lands incident. For a lot of people this was enough to make them run for the hills and forgo early access altogether and I can’t say I blame them, but for me I feel that although it burned me in the end it made me a better consumer. I still am a firm believer in early access and I think with the following tips you can potentially avoid getting burned and enjoy what is arguably one of the most exciting things about PC gaming.
Treat early access as an investment
The first point I need to make in this article is the mindset of a good early access buyer. You always have to remember that you are buying an incomplete game both in terms of content and optimization. Always look at buying an early access game as an investment of your money for what the game is going to be and that part of making an investment is that there is a risk involved. Accept this risk and the possibility of future disappointment or wait until the game is completed. A golden rule that many people go by is; is this game fun as is RIGHT NOW? If the answer is yes and you enjoy the time you spend with it then it makes taking the plunge all the easier.
Is the price too high for your taste? This is a red flag!
Deciding what gamers should pay for an unfinished game is undoubtedly a tricky business and they want to charge what they think their game is worth. However most developers are aware that gamers looking to invest in an early access game are only willing to pay so much for what is essentially a game in alpha. The typical price for a game in steam early access is between $15 and $25, prices however can go as low as $5 or as high as $30. An early access game any higher than $30 makes me an instant skeptic and it should for you as well. The more money they are asking for the more time you should spend making a decision on whether to buy or not. I’ve seen games on early access for as much as $80! The more you spend the bigger the burn if they run with your cash.
Research the developer
The vast majority of early access developers on steam and abroad are small studios or indie dev teams. They do not have the reputations and the long histories that triple A studios have, because of this you should take a little time to find out what games they (or members of their team) have been involved with in the past especially if they are asking for a premium. Do they have good experience? Have they successfully completed a game? Have they ever abandoned a project? All good things to look into before dropping your hard earned dollarinos.
Talk to the community
My previous point and this one are directly connected. The community surrounding a new game is a great place to look for good info and more importantly find red flags. Online communities are not shy about expressing their displeasure when they feel they have been ripped off, listen to both sides of the argument and try to not let your hype of a game cloud your judgement. Naturally community reviews are a good place to start but beware the trolls and rage quitters, steam lets you see their hours played so take full advantage.
Is the game too ambitious?
It’s good for a game to take large strides into exciting territory however, the bigger the strides the bigger the risk for your wallet and while you shouldn’t avoid games that try new things or have a lot of content you should go in knowing that this increases the probability of a potential flop. This risk increases exponentially if the dev team has no/bad history or if they are asking way for too much money.
That’s it! Be careful and keep a healthy level of skepticism and you’ll more than likely survive that minefield we call early access.
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