Deadhaus Sonata Developers Say Big Publishers Are Abusing Early Access

Denis Dyack says large publishers are abusing Early Access, and that the practice is making life harder for smaller studios. Dyack leads Apocalypse Studios, whose debut game, Deadhaus Sonata, opened in Early Access in May.

Early Access is a sales phase where players buy an unfinished game and can play it while the developer keeps building it. Dyack is a veteran of the industry. He co-founded Silicon Knights and directed Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. He describes Deadhaus Sonata as a project with a 10-year rollout, one that relies on community feedback to help shape it.

His criticism is aimed at bigger companies. Dyack told GamesIndustry that giant publishers release games in Early Access for marketing rather than to build them with players. According to Video Games Chronicle, he said: "They can put up a polished product and rake in cash – it's a marketing beat for them."

Dyack argues that this skews what players expect from the label. He says it puts smaller independent developers at a serious disadvantage. He pointed to two games as examples: Subnautica 2, funded by Krafton, and Path of Exile 2, funded by Tencent.

Ethan McKinnon, creative director on Deadhaus Sonata, made a related point. He said smaller teams are held to a much higher standard because players compare every game in the same marketplace. His advice for developers is simple. Treat Early Access like a real launch, because players treat it that way.

For players deciding whether to buy, the Early Access label signals that a game is still being built. Dyack and McKinnon both argue that the expectations attached to that label should not depend on the size of the studio behind it.