Do people know what Early Access means?

I have seen an increase in complaints against early access games ranging from too little content, a range of bugs and of course a feeling that the game is incomplete. This just makes me think ‘Do people understand what Early Access/Game Previews are?’ 

I am a PC gamer so Early access has been a part of my life for 13yrs. Steam started their Early Access program in March 2013 and many games have been through the system. But I feel after 13yrs we should have a clear understanding of what Early Access means. You buy the game, at the presented price (sometimes cheaper because it is in Early Access) and you get what is available then and there with no discernible promises that the game will be finished, be any good or will not be broken/changed/become something else. The last part is the important part. When you buy Early access you enter an understanding with the developer that you are taking a chance on them. They in return usually offer some form of communication for you as a customer to engage with them (often on Discord or Steam or another communications means) and help shape the game they are building (think Larian with Baldur’s Gate 3 and their other games) with zero agreement that they will listen or implement any suggestions you may offer. Basically you buy the game as it is as if it will never get any better. This is very much a one-way street. The developers benefit immensely from this agreement by having an increase in income, free customer feedback and bug testing (a very useful tool to ensure some form of quality control and polishing) as well as getting a consistent and constantly updating feel of what people think of your game. You as the customer really do not get much from this deal other than playing the game early. 

As we have experienced many games never leave Early Access or do so as a broken mess or are simply abandoned by the developers for many reasons (ran out of money is the most common). Steam has tried to mitigate this by flagging Early Access games that have not had an update in 12months. Although this is not ideal, I would make a point that this is just part of the understanding and agreement you undertake when entering into the Early Access program. It is not a shock or a surprise anymore as 13yrs of Early Access has taught us that if you join a game in early access, you are the one taking all the risk. You are paying out for an unfinished project, you are taking the risk that the game will not be completed, you are the one with the understanding that the game may not be the game you bought initially and you are the one who risks losing your money when any of these aforementioned disclosures happen. 

This is why people on Steam have become cautious of entering into this contract. Many have 

been burned a few times as games don’t get completed, become over bloated with features, become broken and unplayable, suffer from content creep that changes the experience, have save corruptions, have to wait for large amounts of time for new content and so on. As I have stated this is not beneficial for the customer but rather is 100% a boon for the developers. 

Now developers will say they feel added pressure from Early Access as they need to follow up on promises, but as history has shown most times this is not what the experience is for customers. Roadmaps are left in the rear-view mirror, updates often slowly fall behind, content creep increases as they feel they can now do more (especially after a successful Early Access launch where income is increased beyond the developers expectations) and sometimes the development just stalls. I do not believe that, for the most part, developers use early access to make money and swindle the customer. Developers generally want to make the game and this is a great way to bolster income and often keeps the developer in the black and allows them time, space and security in order to complete their game as they wanted it to be with the support of a player base that is also invested in their game. It can be a great way for smaller developers to have a community feel to their project, a supportive environment and (hopefully) constructive input into what the game is becoming. 

I would also like to point out the huge disclaimer that all Early Access games on Steam have. Many people ignore this as, in all fairness, they all contain basically the same thing. It often states the game is not content complete, contains bugs, may break due to updates, saves may not carry over to new updates and may require starting a new game, and so on. The developers are given a huge get out of jail free card with this disclaimer. My biggest advice is to read each and every disclaimer that an Early Access game you are interested in has as the developers often state what their goals are and what they want to achieve by releasing into Early Access. Steam has done a lot to try to make the Early Access process more streamlined and concise as they can, despite many opinions otherwise. 

I currently have multiple Early Access games in my Wishlist which I am not interested in buying in Early Access. Games like Windrose, Far Far West, Slay the Spire 2, Star Rupture, The Forever Winter and so on. These are examples of games I am sure I will want to play but I also have games that I am not sold on yet and want to wait for full release to see if they are of interest. There are titles that I have bought in Early Access that I know are going to be good such as Valheim and No Rest for the Wicked. I played Satisfactory in free play days and knew I wanted to play it, so I bought the game but waited for full release as I knew I would have to replay the beginning section and I was worried I would burn out on it. This is a common thread for me personally and why I waited with multiple games to exit Early Access.

I hope we can move back to a place where Early Access means what it should. We should only be entering into the agreement of Early Access if we feel we can get something out of it. There are many games that deserve our trust but unless you are willing to be a guinea pig and test games and actively join in the development with zero chance the developers will listen, we should not do it.