Steam is the go-to storefront for PC gaming, a verifiable Library of Alexandria for PC gamers. This includes Early Access games, which make up a good chunk of the storefront as developers share their work-in-progress. Of course, with all the in-development games available, players can't expect every one of those games to make it to the finish line.
To save players from the disappointment of purchasing an early access game that has unknowingly been abandoned by its developers, SteamDB noted that Steam has implemented a new system that will warn players if the game has been potentially abandoned. While developers may get busy and suddenly their early access game falls to the wayside for a year – and they have every intention of coming back to it – early access games aren't the full package. If an incomplete game has been static for a long time, players looking to spend their money have every right to know.
How Does This New System Work?
Players Will Find a Warning Under the Early Access Status That Warns Them of How Long it's Been Since the Game's Last Update
According to PC Gamer's investigation of the new feature, it appears that early access games that haven't received an update in at least 13 months will get hit with a warning label. The warning label itself will specify how many months exactly it's been since the last update, so players can gauge for themselves whether they want to risk it. Of course, the new feature isn't perfect and could use some updates that allow for nuance.
The feature appears to target full updates, meaning small patches or bug fixes don't show up on its radar. This means that games that haven't received a major update in at least 13 months but are still being diligently tended to by their devs, will be unfairly hit with the label. PC Gamer noted that Heartbound, an indie game that's been in early access since 2018, received a patch as recently as earlier this month. Of course, the game has been hit with many negative reviews as of late, due to its last major update being three years ago, so maybe the feature is on the money in hitting it with that label.
Either way, whether the feature could use some nuance or not, Steam is looking out for players with this new feature. A lot of games die in early access for many reasons; notably, earlier this year the developer for Fortune's Run was sentenced to three years in prison, meaning the game will remain in early access for that time.
Of course, because of how recent the last update was – last month – Steam hasn't flagged it. The new feature may not be perfect, but it will surely come in handy for players debating whether to invest their time and money in an early access game.
Source: SteamDB