Ewan Rants: Early Access Games

Something that's been pretty common these past few years are games that are announced as "Early Access". This means that the game is for sale, however they're either in Alpha/Beta or an unfinished stage of development. So what do I think I don't hear you ask?



I think it's a load of arse. If you're going to release a game then make sure it's playable at least, which most of these games are so fair enough, but some of these games have been in early access for years or have been abandoned by their developers. You're buying an unfinished game, with that money you could get a finished game. It's just a way of the developer to get money.

But it's good that the developers are getting money right? I mean, if they don't get money then they wont be able to work harder on the game, in turn releasing worse content. So most game developers are extremely dependant on the public buying their games before they're in a remotely playable stage. Take a look at DayZ, I bought that game standalone a few weeks after it came out, mainly because I wanted to see what it was like.

I sank a good 30 hours into that game and it's fine. Is it going to be the next big game that sells millions? Maybe. Is it in a playable state right now or last time I checked? No.

That's the problem with early access, you're buying a broken game that you're hoping gets fixed. Believe me, you do see some right piles of shit in early access and know that they will never leave that state any time soon. I'm not saying all of them are bad, I mean, DayZ, Besiege and PolyBridge are all in early access and are going somewhere.

All I'm saying is it's a risk to buy something you don't know is going to get released unless you want to support the developer, I bought DayZ because yes, £20 will help the developer but I actually wanted to see what the game was like, it's fine for the current stage it's in, it's nowhere near finished and in a playable state for me though. I don't find I'm keen on having zombies glitch through the walls and floor.

Another thing, have you seen the prices on some of these early access games? Bloody hell, you're making us pay full retail value for an alpha stage game. Seriously? It's absurd that people will pay this much money for a game that may or may not actually get finished. I mean, Universe Sandbox 2? Why do we need a second one, and for £18.99 at that! That's absurdly expensive! Who'd buy a game that expensive in early access?

Mind, it does look kinda good...