Early access began as a nice idea. Small studios could sell an unfinished game, use the money to finish it, and let players watch it grow. Everybody wins. The game gets made. The players feel involved. The studio eats.
That was the theory. In practice, early access has become a place where games go to live forever in a state of being almost done, like a loft conversion or a novel someone started at university. Anyone who has scrolled Steam’s Early Access section knows the type: a beautiful trailer, a five-phase roadmap and an update log that slows down around the time the cosmetics arrive.
I have obtained the latest roadmap update from Hollowmere, an invented survival game from the invented studio Thrumbley Works, which entered early access in March 2019 and has been “nearly there” ever since. My notes are in bold.
A message from the team
“First of all, thank you. Your patience is the reason Hollowmere exists. We know updates have been slower than we hoped, and we want to be transparent: we are closer than ever to 1.0.”
“Closer than ever” is true of anything that has not gone backwards. It is also true of the heat death of the universe.
What we delivered this year
- A brand new main menu, with animated fog.
- Reworked fishing.
- A cosmetic store, “to help support development”.
Seven years in, the menu is finished. You can now look at beautiful fog before going into a game where the second half of the map is still a grey box with a sign that says “COMING SOON”.
The cosmetic store went in before the ending did. This tells you everything about which of the two is paying the rent.
The roadmap
- Phase 1: Foundations (complete)
- Phase 2: Expansion (complete, mostly)
- Phase 3: The Deep Update (in progress)
- Phase 4: Polish (planned)
- Phase 5: 1.0 Launch (when it’s ready)
This is the same roadmap as 2021. Phase 3 was called “The Big Update” then. It has been renamed, which counts as progress.
“When it’s ready” is not a date. It is a mood. You cannot hold a mood to account.
The Supporter Pack
“Some of you have asked how you can help even more. We are delighted to introduce the Founder’s Supporter Pack, £19.99, which includes an exclusive hat and a place in the credits.”
You already paid to fund the game. Now you can pay to fund the game you already funded, and receive a hat. The credits do not exist yet, because the game doesn’t. Your name is being placed in a list at the end of something that has no end.
Why this keeps working
Nobody is being robbed. You can read the reviews, which have been “Mostly Positive” since 2020, mostly from people who bought it, played it for 300 hours and then wrote “great game, wish they would finish it”. That review is the whole business model in one sentence. You loved the start. You are invested. You have sunk too much time to walk away.
Sunk cost is not a bug in early access. It is the engine. Every hour you put in is an hour you would be admitting you wasted if you left, so you stay, you buy the pack, you defend the studio online and you wait for Phase 4.
Meanwhile, the studio has a steady income, a loyal community and no deadline. Most people would kill for that job. Most people have to finish things.
The game will reach 1.0 one day. There will be a trailer. The trailer will announce a sequel, in early access.