Steam Early Access – Boon or Bane?

A lot of media outlets have begun writing about the dangers of Early Access on Steam. Why did I never think about this before? Inspired by these guys, I think this is the perfect time to explain Early Access and how it is impacting video game development and the industry as a whole.

Early Access – According to Steam, developing games by including the community’s feedback, evolving elements of the game over a period of time is the way games are meant to be made.

Back in the days, most of us gained access to Beta or Alpha (unfinished games) releases free of charge. We would then play the game, offer feedback and continue playing if the developers respond to some of the biggest concerns in the game. The game was FREE of charge and allowed people to participate either via invitation or via registration. This was a pretty neat system for casual and enthusiast gamers to get their hands dirty with a game in development and production.

Come Early Access, all of this is changing. With this new addition to Steam, customers now gain access to an Alpha or Beta version by PAYING for the game. Developers now put their game up on Steam and require people to BUY the game before it is actually finished. The players then spend time on the game to offer feedback following which the developers of the game improve it.

I personally find this disturbing to see that so many people have actually spent so much money on an unfinished product that actually may or may not fix itself over a period of time. What if you don’t like where the game is headed? What if you didn’t like the game in the first place? You can’t actually criticize the game developer because you made the decision to purchase the game yourself. Is it not possible to get a refund you may ask. According to Steam policies, you have to contact the game developer if you wish to be refunded.

What if an Early Access game is cancelled? STEAM DOES NOT REFUND YOU! They treat the purchase of an Early Access game equal to the purchase of a fully finished retail release.

Here’s a video from TotalBiscuit discussing the same. He dives deeper into the Steam Early Access system and how Valve needs to take responsibility to change some of their policies towards Early Access.

Play an Inventor, Travel in Time, Fix a Broken World in Chronology

Now on Steam Greenlight, Chronology is set in a post-apocalyptic world and lets you play as The Inventor who knows how to travel back and forth in time. Using this to your advantage, you’ll need to undo the destruction of the world by traveling back and forth in time accompanied by your time-stopping friendly Snail and prevent the destruction from happening.

Although this game reminds me of Braid, Chronology allows us to carry items back and forth in time to solve puzzles. You can also plant a seed in the past, come to the future and use the full grown tree to your advantage.

The game’s artwork and aesthetic looks are fantastic. The Inventor is being voiced by Brett Dunnelly and The Snail is being voiced by Nicki Rapp (The Walking Dead, Psychonauts, Broken Age). The music is also being composed in-house. The soundtracks are now available for preview and can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp for $7.

Chronology is developed by OSAO Games – A five man Danish development team. The game is scheduled to release in the first Quarter of 2014. The game is currently on Steam’s Greenlight. Vote for it to bring it on Steam.

Skulls of the Shogun free for iOS until 26 December

If you don’t own an Apple device, a “Bon-A-Fide” edition for Windows is currently at a 50% off ($ 7.49) on Steam. A promotional 4-pack bundle priced at $15.29 includes three more steam keys that you can give away to friends.

For the iOS however, until 26th December, the developer Galak-Z has decided to give it away for free! The game was ported recently to the iOS and features all five episodes, a bonus island from the Bon-A-Fide edition, 36 turn-based multiplayer maps playable over the internet and cross-platform support with Steam.

Strike Vector’s Open Beta commences early Jan 2014

Strike Vector, a multiplayer third person/first person air combat game is speeding towards an open beta early Jan 2014. To sign up for the beta, send an email to beta@strikevector.net

The game is being developed by a 9-man army who call themselves Ragequit Corporation.  It took them 15 months to build this beautiful looking old school-esque shooter using Unreal Engine 3. Strike Vector is reminiscent of classics like Crimson Skies, Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament and more on those lines.