Steam adds a new feature to let players know about abandoned early-access games

Valve has added a new quality-of-life feature to Steam that warns players before purchasing a potentially abandoned early-access game. The feature now reveals the time an early access game has gone without an update from the developer. 

Often, early access games on Steam are left without any word from the developers, and players are left searching for answers regarding the game across forums or other places. This implementation allows users to have a quick look and decide if the game is worth the purchase based on update frequency.

Valve silently adds a new feature to Steam

This feature was first noted by SteamDB, however, there’s no official announcement from Valve regarding the update. Before this, the a SteamDB extension provided a similar feature which was revealed the last time a game was updated by the developers. Valve previously added a recording feature, compared to that, this may not be as huge which is why there isn’t an announcement.

Early access was introduced back in 2013 which allowed game developers to publish their games while it is in development. However, it can be hard to differentiate between a game that is being actively developed and abandoned games or even those that have less frequent updates. For games like these, players will now get an additional notification, although the message seems to appear after one year of no updates.

Also Read: Valve is making a Steam Console to compete with Xbox and PS5: Rumors

Steam Early Access FAQ

What are Early Access games?

Early Access games are those which hasn’t finished development but feature enough content to keep players engaged. This is a great way to fund games with interesting concepts but doesn’t have proper funding. Sadly, this is where some games are also abandoned if the sales aren’t enough to generate proper funding.

Are early Early Access games worth playing?

A lot of times, Early Access games can become some of the best releases with a full launch. A great example of some early access games that went on to become some of the most popular titles is Baldur’s Gate 3, Hades along with its sequel which is currently in early access, Ark: Survival Evolved, and many more. Early Access also has a discount on release as the game isn’t complete, this price usually increases with each major update or full release giving players a sweet discount.