Can someone redpill me on "early access" games? The whole concept is confusing to me. It doesn't make any sense

Can someone redpill me on "early access" games? The whole concept is confusing to me. It doesn't make any sense.
You're releasing a game to the public, but saying it's "not released"? They say it's because the games aren't 100% finished, but in a day and age where games can receive patches and updates, what's the difference? If it's available for the public to purchase and play, doesn't that mean it's released?

Money

But doesn't advertising a game as finished just sound more attractive, and therefore get more people to buy it?

Im not sure myself. To me early access just seems like a beta you pay for

The moment you can buy it and play it, it is released. "Early Access" is just an excuse to evade responsibility for selling a shitty game.

1.0 should be the finished version of the game, aka the developers final "vision" for the game. And every subsequent update is either a patch or a major ingame update. Games pre 1.0 are unfinished as the product is not fully developed. You don't see many games release a single item in an update other than early access stuff.

this
developers think "good enough to play" and don't have to fix bugs

Yes and no. Think about it. Early acess is practically a great way to get some extra cash for whatever the developer needs it for and since its EARLY ACCESS if your game is a fucking mess you and your shills can just use that as an excuse for your trashy game

early access is stupid. It's pretty much a double edged sword where the consumers get an unfinished turd and the creators don't get the dosh from pre-release hype because they can't plan long term.

Only EA I bought were Conan Exiles and Exanima. They're okay.

1. announce a game that looks good on the surface/in trailers but otherwise rotten to the core
1.5. release demo footage that doesn't represent the finished product in any way accompanied by statement talking about your unrealistic ambitions for the game
1.5b. (optional) sell preorders/founder packs/alpha&beta access for $30-250
2. disclaimer (in very small text) saying the game is in development so that they can't be held accountable for their obvious scam attempts
3. make you sign an agreement waiving your right to refund it
4. ignore criticism, never address issues with your game whilst you keep adding cosmetics/lootboxes

thats all you need to know

Let me guess, starbound?

Starbound didn't really add blatant cashgrabbing after the initial purchase, but it has its faults.

Now, Robocraft. That is poison.

Wtf ever happened to conan exils? I remember whn every streamer and their nan were doing videos on it then the game went into the shadows

Battleye and Denuvo happened. It was streamerbait with no depth at all. It couldn't even stand out from the games it was trying to cheaply imitate.

> mfw PS4 defenders use MH World's exclusive """"beta"""" for a few days in next december as a solid argument.

An excuse to prevent journos from giving a full review on your game.

ANTA
NORDESTINA

never played it
it was directed at every mmo/sandbox released in the past 5 years but also every upcoming mmo
namely ashes of creation, crowfall, albion, star citizen, camelot unchained and BLACK DESERT ONLINE while "technically" not an early access game, but it could might as well be one considering how flawed it is and how none of the issues ever get fixed

I used to watch maxmoefoe stream until he stopped and I stopped following the game. I just looked up some recent gameplay and it still looks pretty meh... I mean wtf is with those bow and arrow animations?

Early access are honest about their games being unfinished pieces of shit

Anyone that uses a matrix meme seriously should be shot in the face