Page 48 - PC Gamer - UK (February 2020)

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How unfinished games became their own genre

By Chris Livingston

T he first game I ever bought from Steam genres of games can appear in
Early Access was a survival sandbox
Steam Early Access, but survival
called Under the Ocean. I played it,
games especially leaned on it hard,
enjoyed it and tried out new alphas as
they were released over the next few mostly due to Bohemia Interactive’s
DayZ. The standalone version of the
months. As time passed, the game’s scope grew, popular mod entered Early Access
devblogs and roadmaps were published, and new in December of 2013, and sold
features like multiplayer were discussed with the fans. 400,000 in a week. Within a year
In 2014, things began to change. Communication from Bohemia Interactive had sold over 3
the developers slowed to a trickle. million copies.
After DayZ became a top seller
On February 3, 2015, developer Paul Hart revealed that and a massive success despite not
Under The Ocean’s programmer had quit. Hart said he still even being finished, Steam quickly
wanted to finish the game, though he didn’t know when became packed with unfinished
or how it would happen because he would be “restarting Early Access survival games. Many
the project from scratch”. were just frameworks: an open
Refunds weren’t an option – the money earned from world and a few basic survival
systems to keep players busy while
the devs continued to develop their
PLAYERS HAND OVER MONEY games. Players could scavenge gear
and supplies, eat and drink to keep
THINKING THEY’RE BUYING A their meters filled, engage in some
basic crafting systems, and deal with
GAME, BUT THEY’RE NOT some sort of threat: zombies usually, wild animals
occasionally, and most often, other Early Access players.
A new genre was born: not just survival games, but TOP: Boxy forts
still exists in the libraries o t ose , Early Access survival games. were a common
game is no longer on Steam. feature in Early
Access survival
When we think of gambling in games our minds SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST games.
immediately go to loot boxes, but there’s no bigger gamble I love survival games and bought and played a ton of them
than Early Access. Players hand over money thinking in Early Access myself, many of which I barely remember ABOVE: Be careful
around campfires in
they’re buying a game, but they’re not. They’re placing a the details of now. I bought Starforge (which is now gone Three Days.
bet and they have no way of knowing if they’ll win, or from Steam). I bought Reign of Kings. The Long Dark.
even what they’ll win. Sometimes it works out and Rust, Ark: Survival Evolved, Unveil, Miscreated, Empyrion,
everyone, devs and customers, are happy. Other times Frozen State, Hurtworld, Grav, Better Late than Dead,
players wait years, and wind up with a game they don’t Three Days, The Solus Project, and many more.
like, or one vastly different than the one they thought they DayZ only left Early Access at the end of 2018, five
were paying for. years after it set the trend, and even after all that time it
Steam Early Access was launched in March 2013 with still didn’t contain all the features originally planned. Ark
a total of 12 games, but that number quickly grew. All sold millions of copies and is still one of the most-played

5 FEB 3, 2015 M ARCH 4, 2015 APRIL 24, 2015
JOYSTIQ CLOSES
SK Y RIM PAID
M A XIS CLOSES
AOL officially EA shuts down Maxis MODS
1
shutters its headquarters, Bethesda launches
20 long-running and effectively killing the an initiative that
offers user-made
influential games
SimCity and Spore
news website as part studio as we know it mods for sale. The
of a larger downsizing and absorbing its backlash is quick and
strategy. Many great staff into the wider in days the project is
journos lose their job. EA ecosystem. abandoned.

48 FEBRUARY 2020