Support NeoGAF

[IbizaPocholo]

Steamworks Development - New: Early Access developers can list their planned "1.0" release date - Steam News

This optional tool allows games in Early Access to officially display their expected 1.0 release date

store.steampowered.com

We recently introduced a new field in Steamworks for Early Access games, providing a dedicated space to display the date when a game plans to exit Early Access and officially launch 1.0.

How does it work?

Products that are currently in Early Access have a dedicated Early Access tab in their Edit Store Page tools. At the bottom of that page, developers will now find a date picker to select a planned 1.0 release date.

Just as with Coming Soon pages on Steam, developers have the option to share a specific calendar date, or a more vague timeframe if they wish.

After the developer saves and publishes their change, customers will see the planned 1.0 release date publicly in the store, like so:

 

[rkofan87]

 

[Catphish]

Good. I hope this drives (or pressures) devs to use it, because I'm tired of shit languishing in ea for years upon years.

I've all but stopped buying ea games for exactly that reason.

 

[Loomy]

Good. I hope this drives (or pressures) devs to use it, because I'm tired of shit languishing in ea for years upon years.

I've all but stopped buying ea games for exactly that reason.

I like that they added this:

Our advice is:

1) Just because this feature exists, does not mean you should or must use it. It makes sense to use this date display only if you are already communicating directly with your players about a planned date for your 1.0 release, when you have a very high degree of confidence.

2) When in doubt, wait. Setting a specific calendar date can cause confusion or disappointment if you end up missing that date. Building and maintaining trust with your community is an important part of Early Access, and there is no pressure to establish a 1.0 release time far in advance.

 

[videogamedude]

steam is selling finished games now?!

 

[tr1p1ex]

EA it's not in the game ...yet.

 

[Topher]

Nice feature

 

[poppabk]

Good. I hope this drives (or pressures) devs to use it, because I'm tired of shit languishing in ea for years upon years.

I've all but stopped buying ea games for exactly that reason.

Why does it matter unless you are buying an early access game that isn't worth playing in it's current state. I bought Beam.ng and Besiege in early access, both were well worth it, as is, when I bought them.

 

[Catphish]

Why does it matter unless you are buying an early access game that isn't worth playing in it's current state. I bought Beam.ng and Besiege in early access, both were well worth it, as is, when I bought them.

It matters because it's not done. If that doesn't matter to you, good for you. It matters to me.

 

[playbignbox]

Even if they set a date, I still won't buy games in early access.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I've had games languish in the Steam Wishlist waiting for full release only to get deleted after months of waiting.
I'm not a fan of any kind of early access. It's a death sentence as far as my game tracking goes.
This will allow me to just give up sooner and delete earlier.

 

[poppabk]

It matters because it's not done. If that doesn't matter to you, good for you. It matters to me.

What game is done nowadays? If you are waiting for all content and patches to be complete before buying a game - what games are you buying?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

All they are doing it seems is give EA games a line to state final release date?

Good info as it'll set a clear date. But really no different than any game that doesnt do EA games stating its release date. And studios can always change their release date too.

 

[Skifi28]

Not sure how useful that is, I doubt most developers in EA know the date they are releasing or can set one and follow it with no major delays. This will only lead to anger and review bombing methinks.

 

[Durin]

Probably not going to help that much, since early access games get delayed all the time, but for games that are crossing the finish line it's nice to see at a glance where the attempt is.

What would be good is if you had a way to follow this, and be notified if the release target date changes.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Not sure how useful that is, I doubt most developers in EA know the date they are releasing or can set one and follow it with no major delays. This will only lead to anger and review bombing methinks.

Probably not going to help that much, since early access games get delayed all the time, but for games that are crossing the finish line it's nice to see at a glance where the attempt is.

What would be good is if you had a way to follow this, and be notified if the release target date changes.

Exactly.

I dont get a sense the typical gamer who buys an EA game even cares about knowing an exact date where they think..... Oh shit. I'm only going to buy the EA if the studio states the exact 1.0 date too.

Most of them dont specify anything. If youre lucky they might say it's vaguely coming out next year. The date is more for gamers who only want final release versions, so now they know. When I see an EA game, I avoid. I'm not buying that shit. But if it's a game that interests me, maybe I'll bookmark it if it has a date now set.