Early Access and YOU!

      There is an epidemic afoot. It's sweeping indiscriminately across the gaming landscape, leaving nothing but sour tastes and broken promises. I am of course speaking of Early Access games, that seem to be running rampant on the steam marketplace. Every day one goes out of development, while two new titles roll up to fill it's spot. These titles have sparked some amount of ire in the gaming community, but is it warranted?

      2015, the year of "No Pre-Orders" as it were on Reddit and other gaming communities.
A movement born from the pains of 2014, which was one of the worst years for gaming in recent memory. Broke-ass games shipping left and right, caused the people to put their collective foot down and shout a resounding "Naaaaaaah." Now, has this so called movement worked?

      Maybe, maybe not. The PC version of Grand Theft Auto V is, to this day, on the top 5 best sellers list on Steam. That is beside the point however, there was a real problem. Games being labeled as "complete" $60 products that were shipped to stores, were essentially broken. This has to stop, but do the same rules apply to games that are clearly labeled as "Early Access"?


                               
                        The most accurate review I've seen for Assassin's Creed: Unity

      If you are unaware of what early access is; firstly, c'mon bro, and secondly, Early Access is a forum where developers can put their unfinished games up for sale. Keyword in that statement is "unfinished"... let that sink in. There is a fundamental difference between a retail game and one that is purchased on early access, one you can get angry about, one... you really can't.

      The myriad of reasons early access titles are picked on is endless. It's Buggy, it's empty, no development updates, developer is seemingly dead...on and on forever until we all eventually succumb to Typhoid fever. The lynch pin however, is that not so subtle word unfinished. Buyers beware, value is not promised. Nothing about the Early Access market is concrete. A game could be here one day and gone the next. We have to stop treating these as sure fire games and more as possibilities.

                                    
                                                      I bought this game, neat huh?


      Everyone works hard for their money, on the flip-side, everyone makes their own choice what to do with said dollaz. No one forced you to spend those last 25 bucks on The Stomping Land. That's not saying that there has never been a shitty outcome to an early access title, but remember; these games are unfinished. The flaw is the idea that since I am paying for something I am guaranteed something, but that's not the case here. This is a volatile area of the industry, and people need to be willing to deal with consequence. In no way am I condoning some of the gross misconduct that has been exhibited in this market, But for Pete sakes people, know the risk.

      In the end early access is a good thing for the industry, there I said it, back off. It is a platform for new ideas to flourish, for new devs to be seen, and in the best cases; for an audience to be heard. I've been duped by these kind of games before, but remember, we're all new to this rodeo. There will be fuck-ups, there will be mistakes. So proceed with caution and be ready to get burned now and again. But if you make the call to throw money towards an uncertainty. Don't whine when those $15 fly the coop and you're left with 700 Mb of dead executable; you're better than that.

      What do you think about the Early Access scene? Drop me a comment below! I'd love to hear your stance.