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"Developers need to treat Early Access like a real launch, because players do" – Early Access games are on the rise, but so are player expectations

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"Developers need to treat Early Access like a real launch, because players do" – Early Access games are on the rise, but so are player expectations

The studios behind Valheim, Subnautica, Hades, Phasmophobia, Paralives, and Deadhaus Sonata discuss the highs and lows of Early Access

The number of games released through Steam's Early Access program has risen significantly in recent years. According to SteamDB, 2,924 Early Access games launched on Valve's platform in 2026 (as of mid-October), an 18% increase from 2025 and a 60% increase from 2020.

As a percentage of the overall number of Steam games released each year, Early Access titles are on the rise, going from a 10.4% share in 2024 to 11.3% in 2025 and 13.7% in 2026.

When Steam launched its Early Access program in 2013, it opened a valuable door for solo developers and smaller studios, allowing them to raise capital mid-development while simultaneously building hype and gathering vital player feedback ahead of a 1.0 launch. Don't Starve, Baldur's Gate 3, and Dead Cells are just some examples of how a constructive Early Access period can lead to long-term success.

But rather than simply buying time to tinker, a game's Early Access launch is now just as important as its "real" launch. GameDiscoverCo reported that only 21% of Steam Early Access graduates earned more in their first 30 days after 1.0 than after their Early Access release.

GamesIndustry.biz spoke to the studios behind Valheim, Subnautica, Hades, Phasmophobia, Paralives, and Deadhaus Sonata about the rising bar for Early Access releases, the benefits and pitfalls of gathering player feedback, and the things they would have done differently.

Nowadays, when it comes to Early Access, absolutely anything goes, says Anthony Gallegos, creative director of Subnautica 2.


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