Steam introduces Early Access
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
New system allows users to purchase select unfinished games and immediately begin playing while still in development.
Valve today announced a new Early Access system that allows users to purchase select unfinished games and immediately begin playing while development continues.
According to Valve, the goal of this new system is to give players a chance to interact with developers and provide feedback to assist in the game's development.
"This is the way games should be made," Valve said.
There are 12 supported titles at present, including Arma III and StarForge, though Valve said the library will be expanded "over time." The full list of Early Access games is below.
· 1… 2… 3… KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby)
· Arma III
· Drunken Robot Pornography
· Gear Up
· Gnomoria
· Kenshi
· Kerbal Space Program
· Kinetic Void
· Patterns
· Prison Architect
· StarForge
· Under the Ocean
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
201 comments
early access = you pay to be a tester . Companies will fire all the testers and earn money on behalf of people thinking they are getting the game beforehand .
no thank you!! i will pass
Good for developers, good for Early Access users, good for later release users. Why is this bad again?
1 Like Early aceess is sick ! I would love to play some hot games straight from the press but if I would have to pay full retail for them I would opt myself out. You just know that $59.99 dollar game will cost 10.99 during STEAM sale.
3 Like Oh, I would love to go into a retail store and ask for Drunken Robot Pornography or reciting the whole name of 1? 2? 3? KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby).
1 Like @Triton No. You'Re gonna have acces to game before release. These games are gonna be REALLY broken. You know? REAL big problem. Crash 5 minutes into gameplay, progression break just before that boss you absolutely wanted to see, unable to use that specific character you like, graphic corruptions everywhere...
1 Like whats the point to pay for an unfinished product.
It's like buying a car without wheels wtf
3 Like @Seifer24 Cause you get early access for a discounted price, join the community and help the developers make a quality solid product. And then when it is full spec and released you DONT PAY AGAIN! Take Arma 3 £20 gets you in now at alpha or you could wait till release and pay £35, 6 months early access on a discounted product sounds good to me. already got Arma and Prison Architect !!
@rantingraj Company of Heroes 2 is ready . They are just polishing it's rough edges , it was originally planned for March release but due to THQ's death , the game is delayed to June :-(
1 Like @rantingraj I wish, but I think it is way too late for COH 2 to be released through this system, not to mention they want to have fans see the final product for the first time they play it.
@Gamer_4_Fun Alpha is usually the software developement stage to dedicated team testing, they never usually release Alpha to the public, more inhouse testing. Beta is the next stage of the software testing bugs, crashes etc - -this version is more likey to be released to public for early access or to a limited public groups or die hard fans to test
@spookyghosts I know that, my question is how is steam early access different from betas we have.
@Gamer_4_Fun @spookyghosts The difference is quite simple... It means games even MORE incomplete. With even more REAL problems. You must not be familiar with game developpment, right?
@Gamer_4_Fun @spookyghosts wow I'm glad cos how could anyone be that stupid coming here...well I never said I was a mind reader....I guess betas and alphas were never released on Steam before, as far as I know..could be totally wrong
1 Like This is at least a much better approach than Greenlight where everybody voted "yes" on most of the crap that was put on there, only to not buy it in the end anyways.
Besides, the Greenlight was more of a voting for ideas of games (which are years off from release), whereas with Early Access you already have a playable version at hand and can give feedback for future development.
I bought ARMA 3 before the "Early Access" phase as soon as it showed up on Steam and am already vastly enjoying it.
I've had hundreds of hours of enjoyment with Kerbal Space Program, since version 0.14 if I remember correctly and to support them I bought it again on Steam yesterday, even though the key from their store would carry over. (Their store didn't quite allow "gifting" to friends, but Steam of course does, so this was a good decision by them, besides the added exposure to all the gamers on Steam)
Gnomoria is slowly but steadily improving and I think I'll be getting it soon and Prison Architect I've backed from their preorders site half a year ago which I've also put countless hours into.
There are no game breaking bugs in ARMA 3, Kerbal Space Program or Prison Architect and even in their current state if something tragic would happen to the development team or the project would be abandoned, they'd still offer years and years of enjoyment (in my opinion), besides the only "DRM" is SteamWorks which is absolutely acceptable.
Don't like that, then you can still buy it from the developers directly, completely DRM free (except ARMA 3 of course, which is a Steam exclusive).
Don't approve with the current price of the game, then wait for it to show up in a sale, Steam has a very good reputation when it comes to that.
Long story short, it was all money well spent and I'd rather buy these "indie" developer games again and again before even considering wasting it on overpriced, casualized, 4 hour playthrough, DRM infested "AAA" titles that require separate account registrations and have no replay value.
Valve, this is truly the better way and I salute you for making this decision to offer this "Early Access" step for developers.
1 Like And what happens if the game never gets a full release? Do you get your money back?
@Landsharkk No, according to the FAQ and Steam support (someone tried a refund on Arma 3 and posted the log on the Arma 3 section), your simply buying the game as is.
So if I the game never gets completed your stuck because you paid for what you got at the point of sale.
1 Like Not sure. though Steam is probably the only company that gives out refunds from their own pocket if the owner flatout refuses. see War Z
3 Like @jsmoke03 Some games people think are good enough, I bought ARMA 3 the day the Alpha came out and I have no regrets, love the game even if it is a limited state compared to the full version. Plus everyone wants to contribute as said.
2 Like Wow...so much hating.
People should decide for themselves what they wanna do...Steam isnt forcing anyone.
I decided I wanted to support Star Forge...so I did. And whatever others think of it...thats their own problem.
This should be a dream come true for all those aspiring developers out there. Don't expect anything great if your looking for a full blown game tho.
www.gamerzultd.com
facebook.com/gamerzultd
Twitter @gamerzultd
4 Like Please realize you are buying into a alpha/beta. This is NOT a preorder so don't expect a refund if the game isn't working for you. Expect crashes and poor performance. I know this all sounds obvious but some people are this stupid.
Having a say in the process is the future. Steam is always on the cutting edge of stuff. It's completely optional, but for developer wannabes it's a dream.
Nice , seem to be from all the developers who like to work with the communities.
PC developers tend to usually give a shit and care about feedback.This will work excellently.Ill be taking part for sure.
I already do for Starforge.
3 Like People are suppose to pay to test their games? Isn't that what game tester get paid to do? What a joke. Why would anyone pay for an unfinished game. This is NOT how games are suppose to be made. Valve is smoking that wacky weed again. Don't fall for this stupid crap.
@blackace And hell if you were going to buy the game anyway, why not make sure it really turns out amazing?
2 Like @WolfGrey @blackace Depends on the game. If it's a game with a heavy story, you're going to be seeing the story in broken form - it's the worst form of spoilers ever. You also might find that you've gotten tired of the game by the time it comes out, which can be trouble for co-op games.
On the other hand, you get to actually watch the game come together. You see game systems come in, see them fail horribly, and get to see WHY they failed. Or see some system that is failing then, with a little tweak, suddenly becomes a real joy. It's really interesting stuff. Plus you do get to feel like you're a part of making the game happen.
2 Like @blackace Houston we have a fool.
This is basically paying for alpha/beta at a discounted price.
For example, you get a game for 30 dollars instead of 60, get to directly interact with the development of the game, and help make sure it is a fully fleshed out, ironed out , and mostly bug free game.
For PC gamers this is great.And if it is a franchise you care about, even better.
I take it you aren't a PC gamer.
@WolfGrey Of course he's not a PC gamer. I know him from earlier, and I remember that troll.
2 Like Oh good lawd, I work on this stuff as a living. Playing games in Alpha / Beta form is not fun and games, it is nasty WORK. Wow, they actually figured out a way to have people pay to do that, brilliant! (or stupid!).
1 Like @VolcanoMan001 Oh, free testers don't do the serious stuff. We'll just find funky hardware configurations that don't work, holes in the geometry, grammar errors, stuff that happens to only one in a thousand people (much easier to find when there's 5000 people), and like that. The paid testers are doing the hard core stuff where you're not just finding bugs but working out repeatable steps to reproduce the bug reliably, exploring EVERY option imaginable, and other tedium.
Basically, the free testers are a thousand yokels popping out on little boats to do some fishing and occasionally tossing a few things they think are fish into the "to do" hopper. The paid testers are the pro's that are out with big nets, methodically covering the water and expertly cleaning the fish before tossing it into the hopper. The paid testers will find a lot more problems that will be a lot easier to fix because the developers will have more solid information - but sometimes those free testers will find a fish in the damnedest places...
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