What do you think of Early Access?

[Rockhem]

My opinion is that Early Access should be up to the buyer whether to purchase it. I say, if you aren't happy with the developer ditching the game the day you buy it, then you shouldn't buy it. I have followed rules like that, and I have never felt burned by an early access game. So because of that, I think that Valve should continue to sell early access games.

What is your opinion about Early Access?

 

[majessticah]

Hi! Just wanted to point your attention to this thread I created on this same topic pretty recently...
http://www.mygamer.com/forums/threads/early-access-good-or-bad.137740

Might be helpful in your search for opinions.

 

[Squigly]

I think Early Access games which fulfill all their promises and actually see completion are pretty rare. Planetary Annihilation for instance fell short on many of its design goals, leaving initial supporters of the game with a bitter taste in their mouth. Prison Architect and DayZ are probably the exceptions to the norm of early access games done right. Personally I wouldn't spend money on them until they are released as a final product that I know I would enjoy.

 

[MrHurricane]

I think the current trend with Early Access does more harm than good, see DayZ and Starbound for example. By the time a game moves to a "release", most people have moved on or have forgotten about it.

 

[Azrile]

There are things, like Black Friday and the fact that stores decorate for Christmas in September that seem like stupid marketing ideas.... Early Access is among them.

But the fault is with gamers.. this obsession we have with playing games on release day has just led to development companies figured out that they can capitalize on it by making us pay early for early-access.

I think with any game other than a MMORPG, there is no reason to buy the game on launch day, let alone pay early to have a half-finished version of the game.

In the end, it does more harm then good for developers because there is a disconnect between the programmers and the marketers. The programmers think of the day the game must be ready as launch day, and I don´t think many development houses have realized that early access will kill the reputation of a game if it is not the full version.

 

[BluBird]

I think early access is good in theory, but that 25% statistic is why it's not so good in practice, although as mentioned, the successes are usually great. I guess early access is better than nothing with some games? And yet we have companies releasing "completed" AAA games that are just as buggy - if not more - than early access games.