I mean, just do a little due diligence, Jesus. I've bought PalWorld, Planet Crafter, Traveler's Rest, and more in early access and had a blast with all of them. In fact, I'd say it's some of the best bang for my buck in the last ten years of gaming. I've also not bought early access games because the five minutes of due diligence suggested that it was a garbage game.

I particularly think it's fine with small, indie studios that don't have a lot of devs or resources. No way in fuck am I buying an early access AAA release.

[–] rockerface@lemm.ee 38 points 9 months ago

Couldn't agree more.

Games like Valheim or Satisfactory have also been great, despite technically still being in early Access. And, looking back, Risk of Rain 2, Hades and Dead Cells developers have all done excellent job at using early access to develop their games and listen to the community.

Early access, just like any other development model, is a tool. All depends on how it is used.

[–] MasterNerd@lemm.ee 19 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Pocketpair releasing Palworld into Early Access when Craftopia is still in Early Access leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth

[–] Xyloph@lemmy.ca 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Same, I looked at craftopia and thought "palworld is an obvious cash grab", which it might end up being. I'm glad people are having fun now, but I'm not buying into its future :)

I've read they also have a HollowKnight look-alike in the works as well.

[–] Sheeple@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

The HK ripoff is called "Never grave" and they are stretching their resources thin on three unfinished products simultaneously

[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Same. I love both, but when I purchased craftopia I was funding the development of craftopia, not palworld. They're a small company so I kinda get it, but it still has me concerned that they're not going to properly finish craftopia.

[–] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I think it unfortunately just comes down to money. Craftopia wasn't popular enough to pay the bills to finish it.

We'll see what happens with palworld. If they abandon it too then we'll know they're just scumbags. But if they finish it then we'll know abandoning craftopia was a financial need.

[–] osprior@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I can't say I've ever played Craftopia, but after hearing about this I went to the steam page to see for myself. They have released consistent large updates in the last 6 months and even since the launch of Palworld.

Most of the reviews from people who've played it mention it's getting review bombed because of this mis-information and is actually quite good.

Seems to me if they can pull off making two games with multiple teams both which continue to have development, I say more power to them. I'm enjoying Palworld and will at some point check out Craftopia now because of it.

[–] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 1 points 9 months ago

I also saw those updates. I never played it so I usually just cede that they abandoned it for the sake of argument.

I agree with you though

[–] 0ops@lemm.ee 15 points 9 months ago

Right? People need to take a little responsibility. If you want early access, expect issues. If you don't want to see issues, wait. Easy. What's the point complaining about a company providing early access or other gamers purchasing it? You don't need to make it your business, just don't buy the game yet if it bothers you.

[–] whenigrowup356@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Yep. The indie boom that PC gaming experienced would not have been possible without early access funding, full stop.

Not every early access title has gone perfectly and there are some studios that have gamed the system.

Still, the stuff that managed to make it through the process and become successful has been some of the only stuff saving us from a live service hellscape

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Satisfactory I bought for 30 dollars 4 years ago and it's sitting at 1,600 hours for me. I think sweeping general statements are really the bad guy here

[–] starchylemming@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

the journey of this game is wild.

it was super fun from the get go years ago, but somehow every single update made it better and better.

i haven't seen a game with such a focus on quality of life updates before. that team is glorious

[–] CatLikeLemming@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 9 months ago

It'd be nice, if those AAA games were at least marked as early access instead of just being released and sold as something finished. But yes, you're correct.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 5 points 9 months ago

My rule is that it has to be an enjoyable experience in the game's current state. Factorio was fantastic years before it left early access. I bought Space Engineers practically as soon as it hit, before there was even proper weapons in the game, and I had a blast building space ships.

I'm holding off on Palworld. I'm sure what's there is enjoyable for many people, but I'd like to see the endgame fleshed out a bit first.

[–] Holzkohlen@feddit.de 3 points 9 months ago

Eh, I bought Grounded in Early Access. Maye by Obsidian and backed by Microsoft. I think this should count as AAA. Also I think you don't mean that "small, indie studio" cause those are few and far between. Sons of the Forest? They have a Publisher (literally the opposite of being independent). I think there are lots of games which you have put into that category that are not actually indie devs at all. Anyway, my point is just that it's not a black and white issue.