Recently, the head of the ID@Xbox program talked a bit about early access and the possibility of early access games making their way to the Xbox One.
In an interview with Develop, head of the ID@Xbox program, Chris Charla, said that developers with the program have been requesting an early access program. Charla had this to say, “When we talk about Early Access, it typically means a game that you buy and it evolves over time to become 1.0, so you’re buying it before it’s 1.0, Minecraft on PC is a perfect example. It’s something developers have been asking for, and we are listening really closely to developers, but I don’t have anything to announce on that right now.”
Though the early access style of selling games is only available on PC, using Steam’s Early Access section, this is not to say that Early versions of games don’t make their way to consoles. This has been seen before with various Battlefield games, Destiny, and Halo, which allowed gamers to play and test Beta or Alpha versions.
For those who are not fully familiar with early access, the best example of this would be Day Z or Minecraft. The game is sold early on, usually in it’s Alpha stages. Early access games are typically sold for a cheaper price, but there are a few strings to buying games like this. Day Z, for example, is still actively being developed. So, as can be expected, it does have bugs and glitches that are more visible and, at times, more damaging for the game or your save files/characters.
But, early access games have proven to be very popular on Steam, and can do the same for consoles. It not only allows Developers to get better feedback as they create the game, but it also allows gamers to take part in the development process.
So, what do you guys think? Could an early access program work well for Xbox One, or consoles in general? Would early access games for consoles be the same quality as they are on Steam? Or would they fall short? Do you think that console gamers as a whole would accept early access games? Dean Hall recently talked about the possibility of Day Z on consoles, saying it could happen soon. Could an early access program help Day Z come to Xbox One or PS4 sooner? Leave your thoughts below. And remember, stay tuned to Gamer Headlines for all of your early access and gaming news!
The author can be reached at brandonb@gamerheadlines.com or @Cousin_Vinnie99.