Early Access For How Long?

[Damonra]

According to the store page, this game came out February 1, 2017. As of October 2024, it is still listed as, "Early Access." How does a game stay as early access for seven years after its release date? Once that date arrives, shouldn't it stop being in that realm; or am I missing something?

[Your_White_Knight]

İlk olarak Damonra tarafından gönderildi:

Early Access For How Long?

According to the store page, this game came out February 1, 2017. As of October 2024, it is still listed as, "Early Access." How does a game stay as early access for seven years after its release date? Once that date arrives, shouldn't it stop being in that realm; or am I missing something?

Basically "Early Access" means "a limited amount of people at the start"

There's no real "This time after release"... Star Citizen, Kerbal Space Program, DayZ was in "Early Access" for even longer...

Basically until VRChat is on Fortnite level players ( if ever ) it's going to be in "Early Access"

[QP]

It likely has something to do with obsolescence. Because VRChat is on the cutting edge of technology, innovations in the field change the way the game functions. By staying in early access, you're allowed to have your game continue to evolve with that tech. But the moment things are "released," if something comes along to make a feature obsolete (such as phys bones did to dynamic bones), it's a lot harder to convince your user base to adjust to those changes. Like if an update comes along that breaks most of the shaders used on avatars, or the way worlds function, or changes the IK movement of your model...the developers can always say things like, "It's early access, changes like this are expected!"

Also, VRChat has been around since 2014, so it's actually ten years in early access. Barring the need to change game engines, it's likely to stay in early access for at least ten more years. They've come a long way...but geez, they've got a long way to go.

[Knee]

it serves both as a warning to players that the game may or may not change, and as a PR strategy for developers
I wouldn't pay too much attention to the label

[Skate 3]

İlk olarak Your_White_Knight tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Damonra tarafından gönderildi:

Early Access For How Long?

According to the store page, this game came out February 1, 2017. As of October 2024, it is still listed as, "Early Access." How does a game stay as early access for seven years after its release date? Once that date arrives, shouldn't it stop being in that realm; or am I missing something?

Basically "Early Access" means "a limited amount of people at the start"

There's no real "This time after release"... Star Citizen, Kerbal Space Program, DayZ was in "Early Access" for even longer...

Basically until VRChat is on Fortnite level players ( if ever ) it's going to be in "Early Access"

I'm fairly certain vrchat is the most populated vr game. vr itself is niche

[МАКСИМ ДОДЕПОВ]

good

[Your_White_Knight]

İlk olarak Skate 3 tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Your_White_Knight tarafından gönderildi:

Basically "Early Access" means "a limited amount of people at the start"

There's no real "This time after release"... Star Citizen, Kerbal Space Program, DayZ was in "Early Access" for even longer...

Basically until VRChat is on Fortnite level players ( if ever ) it's going to be in "Early Access"

I'm fairly certain vrchat is the most populated vr game. vr itself is niche

Well saying VRChat is the most populated VR game is like saying "Marvel Puzzle Quest" is the most populated puzzle game... and? Being the "best" niche game is still being a niche game...

What I'm saying is VR is still in it's niche stage since it's a niche field and even some of the big names in VR have either given up entirely or have scaled back in research / production

Just because a few people have had VR for a while doesn't mean it's anywhere popular nor at a level where it's available for the masses... and even if it gets there those masses are going to see loli and furry everywhere and not be interested because of it's social niche market

It might ( like a lot of other things and games out there ) ever get out of "Early Access"