Evolve and Battlefield developers considering Early Access

Valve's Early Access program has already helped some smaller developers get their games out but now bigger studios are starting to see the value in keeping the community involved throughout the development process. EA's DICE is considering an Early Access style approach to game development. The same goes for ex-Valve devs, Turtle Rock.

DICE’s General Manager, Karl Magnus Troedsson, recently told Game Informer that while the developer doesn't have anything to announce just yet, it is considering a paid alpha approach in order to avoid a bad game launch: “It comes not from a business perspective, but more from a perspective of if it would help us have a stable launch of the game.”

DICE is considering paid alpha's in order to avoid botching its own game launch. However, Turtle Rock is considering Early Access in order to collect valuable community feedback on what should be in the game. In an interview with Gamasutra, Turtle Rock Studios' very own Phill Robb said:

“Even on Evolve, as we were playing it all these years, the game changed a lot, and there'd be features that'd go in, features that'd come out. We always kind of lamented the fact that we couldn't take the community along on that ride.”

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KitGuru Says: While I don't necessarily agree with DICE's reasoning for considering early access, I do think that Turtle Rock has the right idea. Valve meant for Early Access to allow for community driven development, it shouldn't be used as an excuse to release an unfinished or buggy game. Do you guys think early access should be used exclusively for community driven games?

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