I F**cking Hate Early Access Games

A Twinfinite editor takes a look at the Early Access, beta and alpha stages games are now being released in.

[Snookies12]

That's fine, don't buy them if you don't like them. For everyone else, it's wonderful to get a chance to play the game you're anticipating much earlier than its actual release.

[s45gr32]

Yeah umm no sorry I disagree , an early access game is a game in its alpha stage. Basically you are paying the game developer to test the game and report say game developer the bugs, technical issues like the bloody camera, dialogue etc. What used to be a $14.00 the hour to thoroughly test say games has become in reverse the consumer pays money to thoroughly test the game, promote say game and advice say game developer the direction that they should take in regards to the game. At the very least with kickstarter the gamer gets rewarded for it plus he/she doesn't need to pay for the alpha version of say game. Basically we are no longer consumers we gamers have become willingly free video game testers, advisors, and publisher go figure

[Snookies12]

You're already buying the game though. It's not like you lose the game once it leaves its alpha/beta stages. You're just buying your copy early. It's like pre-ordering something in full before it comes out, except you get to play it before then.

[Zerotino]

I fail to see the issue. Your buying a game in alpha and your testing it, sure, but your also getting the full game when it releases and quite often at a cheaper price. Take minecraft for an example, in Alpha we only had to pay $13 and now its about $27. Thats half the price, you get to play it much longer than the people who waited, and you supported the developer. So your still in reality getting 'rewarded'not that you should need to for buying something your interested in.

[admiralvic]

In a lot of ways, alpha access is good for small time developers. It gives them a chance to get money early, which can be put into making their launch successful. They can also have many more testers reporting bugs and problems with the game and resolving them, all while not having to pay a lot of people to test it (I sure hope they test, since a lot of these supporters report nothing).

[aliengmr]

Having purchased a few Early-Access titles, I can tell you I haven't thoroughly tested any of them. I played them, had some fun, and even offered a suggestion or 2, but it was hardly "paying them to do work".

So what if you pay through kickstarter to get access to an alpha/beta? Like Star Citizen?

Mind you a game like Star Citizen hasn't been touched by major publishers in years. Hell even LucasArts wouldn't touch the Space Combat Sim and they could have easily dominated in that genre.

All I can say if people were being paid $14.00/hr to do what I have been doing, they're the real criminals. That is not work, by any stretch.

Anyway, its a choice. Get over it.

[Gabenbrah]

Then don't buy them... They're specifically made early to allow fans of the game to Alpha or BETA test the game and provide feedback to the developers. In fact they even say in the description not to buy the game for early access because it's not the final product and it's buggy.

[idsanty]

Yeah, I don't like them either. Seems like a scam to charge for an unfinished product.

[SilentSolid]

emm no. cuz it will clearly say Early Access/ alpha / beta most of the time. so u will be the dumb person expecting a finished product.

[Pixelgate]

Not really a scam given they all tell you it's not a finished product.

[s45gr32]

You are correct it's a scam due to you are paying to be a video game tester, consultant, and promoter minus getting rewarded for it.

[aliengmr]

You are not paying to be a game tester. You are paying to get "Early-Access" to an unfinished game.

A "scam" would be claiming one thing and providing something completely different. Unless you completely lack the ability to "read" then you should have no problem understanding what's involved in early-access games.

I know that:

1. They are not feature complete.

2. Will have bugs and glitches.

3. May not ever be completed.

Armed with that basic knowledge I have the choice to spend money on these games or not.

I'm not "testing" Space Engineers or Kerbal Space Program. But if that's what you think I'm doing then I'm glad I payed, game tested is pretty fun:P

[wannabe gamer]

STOP REVIEWING GAMES THAT ARENT RELEASED YET!!!!! LEARN WHAT THE HELL EARLY ACCESS IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the problem isnt Early access ITS FREAKING MORONS THAT JUST DONT GET IT!!!!!!!!!!

seriously there needs to be an approval system for people to pass thru to even get access to the early access store area. an IQ test or something that keeps idiots that dont get it out

[ATiElite]

The First RULE about Early Access Games is:

We don't talk about Early access Games we just play them!

(Well if they are nearing completion and really good I have been talking about a few, DayZ, Pcars, Hawken, Firefall)

I've been in so many Early Access Games that I'm to the point that My Early Access playslist out strips my Gold Release Playslist.

Project Cars
Firefall
DayZ
Hawken
Squadron 42
Survarium
OverGrowth
7 Days to Die
Entropy

[s45gr32]

Hawken is still in beta noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!! :'(

come on is a year already, sheesh it took path of Exile two years to get out of Beta stage.

[kB0]

To be fair, people are using the term "early access" as a scapegoat for releasing unoptimized incomplete code instead of a finished product.

It's a really good idea, but it also encourages shady practices.

It's unfortunate that the bad tend to ruin it for the good, but it's the sad truth behind everything:P

There are some early access games have not seen updates in weeks...some in months...

so yeah it's all a risk.

It's all rolling the dice now:)

[Roccetarius]

Sadly, not much can be done about early access games. Obviously people like being fooled, so they'll fork out the money for Alpha.

Personally, i'm staying far away from it, because i don't want to test it. It's bad enough that AAA games make us test games.

[s45gr32]

Ugh I hate early access games I am not paying thoroughly test a game. It used to be game developers paying $14.00 for any person to test a game which I seriously doubt this job exists anymore. With people happily paying to test the game there is no need for it. I prefer kickstarter for having to pay as little as a dollar or five bucks, and get a reward for backing the game up.

[Stsonic]

were you once paid 14 dollar to test games?

[s45gr32]

No, but most of my friends did.

[Somebody]

The author said he hated the fact that a game changed into a different thing the moment he publish the review. That's actually part of the reason of early access-to get feedback from gamers. Why would he do a review anyway when he clearly knows that the game is not finished?

What about MMOs or F2Ps? These are games that will constantly change even years after they are launched.

[metalgod88]

I love early access games. It allows you to fund the developer as it's being worked on. Of course, the game might be horrible until release, or the devs aren't totally focused on the game, but hey, that's what the forums are for.

Why would you buy into something without looking at the finer details? Would you do that when buying a car? Didn't think so. So don't fall into the same hole when buying into early access games. Do your research on the developer and ask others who did buy in how the process is going.

[iistuii]

I'm playing an early access game, it's called Battlefield 4....

[ATiElite]

LMAO bubbles + Funny

[Moncole]

I got a few early Access games and I plan on buying more.

Dont Starve (now out but bought it in early access)
Starbound
Paranautical Activity
Disco Dodgeball

You dont need to buy them

[aliengmr]

This has to be a troll/satirical article, nobody can be this dense, intentionally.

There is a great way to solve this problem though, and its REALLY simple...

Pretend Early-Access game don't exist until they reach full completion. You're welcome.

Who buys an Early-Access game, then is shocked to find out its not finished? Better yet why is an online publication reviewing them in the first place?

I am frankly shocked by some of the reaction to Early-Access. I have never seen so much rampant stupidity in my life.

If you can't handle Early-Access DON'T BUY THE GAMES. How hard is that really? You have a choice. If you honestly think its a scam, then I'd like to sell you my herbal cure for all ailments, 1000$ and its yours.

[LAWSON72]

Why the hell do people think this a replacement for game testers? It is early access not a private alpha or beta where you are payed to thoroughly play levels and report bugs. You can do that if you want but those buying this are doing so to play the game early and if they run into a serious bug sure they can report it but they dont have to. Who the hell buys a early access game to do someone else's job while paying money to the developers?

[ThreshStar]

As a PC gamer, I've decided NOT to support "Early Access" games and here's why:

When I pay money for a product, I expect that product to meet a certain amount of guidelines in order for me to even consider giving my hard-earned money to a company.

Now, are a lot of "Early Access" games honest about the State of their game?

...to a point, yes.

However, let's look at 2 major IP's that garnered a LOT of attention: ARMA III and DayZ. ARMA III began with the "Early Access" game and eventually submitted it for a full release. According to all of the forum users in Steam, they admitted that the game wasn't finished and not worth purchasing.

DayZ has been in development for a while now and all of a sudden appears on Steam Early Access with a HUGE amount of bugs & missing content - so much so the developer had to put an addendum to NOT BUY THE CURRENT STATE.

THEN WHY PUT IT UP AT ALL?!?!

Simple: For the money. You can tell me that it's to gather intel from gamers, build a better game, etc. however I see it now as a way for developers to gain even more revenue on a game that may not be up to par with the standards it WANTS to create.

I get that developing a game from start to finish is difficult. The idea of Early Access is an intriguing concept, however if ARMA III & DayZ are any indication of larger publishers, it'll become a way to squeeze money out of the gamer/consumer BEFORE THE GAME IS EVEN CLOSE TO BEING FINISHED.

I don't trust that logic one bit.