It turns out that games spending too long in early access might not be the best for their long-term prospects.
It’s been common for indie games to launch in early access on Steam for a long time. High-profile games like ARK: Survival Evolved helped popularize Steam’s early access program back in 2015 before releasing two years later, and it’s continued with newer games like Hades 2, which launched in early access in May 2024, with its full release coming later this month.
Bigger publishers have also adopted the model, with a recent example being EA with the Skate reboot, which just released in early access earlier this week.
The business model and games that use it have had their fair share of controversy, but it can also be extremely successful, not to mention lucrative, even if some early-access games never seem to get to a full release.
However, a recent study shows that the longer a game spends in early access, the lower its sales tend to be once it finally launches.
Sweet Spot Is Around Six Months
The study in question is included in the free version of market research firm Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report...
