Steam Offers Pre-Release Playability for Select Titles

Minecraft made it popular, but now several developers are granting early access to games through Steam, allowing for users to access playable builds of games that have not yet been completed.

This sort of interaction benefits more than those who may be glad to have a peek at their most anticipated game of 20XX, as the community will be able to provide feedback on the game while it’s still in progress.  These sort of user-developer conversations are incredibly valuable tools for both sides of the fence, which is complimented by Steam’s ability to issue game updates at no cost to anyone.

Speaking of removing barriers, here’s the press release in its full form:

STEAM OPENS EARLY ACCESS 

Leading Platform Offers Pre-Release Playability for Select Titles

March 20, 2013 — Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the addition of an Early Access section to Steam’s library of over 2,000 titles.

Steam Early Access titles allow the community to get involved early and play select titles during their development. The goal of Early Access is to provide gamers with the chance to “go behind the scenes” and experience the development cycle firsthand and, more importantly, have a chance to interact with the developers by providing them feedback while the title is still being created.

To support the interaction between Early Access players and developers, Steamoffers easy and automatic updating of games, letting developers iterate quickly to respond directly to bug reports and feedback from customers. And, like all Steam games, Early Access players will be able to interact with other players, making it easy to create and share screenshots, tips, and in-depth guides.

“A lot of games are already operating as ongoing services that grow and evolve with the involvement of customers and the community,” said Sean Pollman of Badland Studio.  “Greenlight helped us raise awareness for Kinetic Void, and now Steam Early Access will let us continue the development of our game while gathering crucial feedback, input and support from the steam Community.”

The first titles coming to Steam Early Access are:

• 1… 2… 3… KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby)
• Arma 3
• Drunken Robot Pornography
• Gear Up
• Gnomoria
• Kenshi
• Kerbal Space Program
• Kinetic Void
• Patterns
• Prison Architect
• StarForge
• Under the Ocean

For more information, and to see all Early Access titles, please visit www.steampowered.com/earlyaccess