Last year, there was a growing trend for AAA video game publishers to offer early access to new games if you pre-ordered expensive special editions. I was worried at the time that if some publishers succeeded in locking games for ransom, many other publishers would do the same in the future. It’s 2024 and most upcoming games have multiple release dates, which all sucks.
Although there is no Technically Starting last year, we see growth through 2023 Number of games available in “early access” price. “Mortal Kombat 1”, “The Crew: Racing Festival”, “Starfield”, Diablo 4and several other sites offer players a choice: pay the standard price to play the game when it launches, or pay an extra fee to play “early” for a few days (assuming the servers are functioning properly).
To me, this all seems like a clear ploy by publishers to fleece gamers, making even more money than they already make through in-app purchases, cosmetics, battle passes, and XP boosters many. I wish people would realize that all these publishers are doing is delaying the release of their games by a few days just to make some extra money. I hope gamers can see that this is a scam and these early access perks are worthless.
I was obviously wrong. Looking ahead to the rest of 2024, it’s clear that publishers large and small have seen other games making a lot of money releasing into Early Access and are following their lead.
Here’s a list of games scheduled for release in 2024 that are available in early access via pricier special editions, how much that edition will cost, and how long you can play early:
- college football 25 – 3 days – USD 90
- Hot NFL 25 – 3 days – USD 90
- Monster Jam Showdown – 3 days – USD 70
- Star Wars Desperados – 3 days – USD 110
- Retelling the Age of Myth – 7 days – USD 50
- Vision of Mana – 1 day – USD 80
- Space Marine II – 4 days – USD 100
- Sword Art Online’s Broken Daydream – 3 days – USD 85
- Undisputed – 3 days – USD 80
- Dragon Ball: Sparks fly! zero – 3 days – USD 100
- Sonic – 3 days – USD 60
- life is strange double exposure – 14 days (Chapter 1 + 2) – $80
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows – 3 days – USD 110
- harmony – 3 days – USD 60
- silent hill 2 – 2 days – USD 80
- Earth Defense Force 6 – 1 day – USD 90
- Enotria: the last song – 3 days – USD 60
- Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 – 1 day – USD 75
- Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown: Silver Edition – 2 days – $80
- Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown: Gold Edition – 7 days – $90
So this is our future, right? I know some of you might be saying, “Yeah, so what? I get to play my favorite games for a long time. That’s cool! But remember all The games listed above weren’t actually released early. I can’t stress this enough. That’s not what’s happening here. not at all.
If a company could publish a similar game Hot NFL 25 August 12th is Somethey can release it as everyone, Instead of making players wait three days because they didn’t spend the extra $20 to buy some special edition. A game that launches on July 10 will still have to go through the same certification and testing that all other games released on the console must go through for some players. So the only thing delaying the game by three days is greedy publishers.
Basically, the publisher will delay the game for three days for no reason and then charge you more to play early. They create a fake problem and sell you a stupid solution.
Games become more expensive and confusing
Let’s not forget, gaming is one of them The world’s most expensive hobby Now that it’s become more expensive, some players won’t be able to play the game they purchased just because they couldn’t pay $30 for early access.
In multiplayer games, this can result in people arriving after others have reached max level and mastered the map and weapons. For single-player, this means that people with less money may have the story spoiled days before they even play the game. It’s just a jumbled mess and not necessary at all.
Besides how nakedly greedy this all is, it also makes video games more complex than before. We’ve already had to check out detailed pre-order charts to figure out which version of the game to buy, and now some of you know will be playing it on Tuesday, while others will start playing it on Friday.
I also want to give special praise Unlimited Test Drive: Sun Crown, This appears to be the first game to take this paid Early Access shenanigans to the next level, with two separate tiers depending on which special edition you pre-order. The silver version of the game includes two days of early access, while the pricier gold version offers up to seven days of early access.
When I originally wrote this article, I included a joke about publishers trying their luck with multiple early access tiers spread across different and expensive releases. It turns out that this is not a scary future, but our reality. Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown There are three different release dates. Welcome to 2024 Game Buying.
But regardless, clearly this is our future and I’m not sure I or anyone else can change that right now. So let’s wait and see how many days the publisher will lock paid early access. Three days seems to be the most popular number at the moment, however, others are surpassing this number. Next year, we may see a game with a 15-day early access period and separation 18-day super early access window. Are you all excited about that future, because I’m not.
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