Early Access tag
Tag created in July 2018
Early Access's popularity amongst developers
This graph shows games released over the years with the Early Access tag and the percentage they represent. The number of releases gives an appreciation of the quantity of games published each year. It often tends to increase naturally, just like the total amount of Steam games released.
The percentage, on the other hand, gives a better view of the trend a tag follows. It shows if, in proportion, the Early Access tag is getting more or less popular. The Review chart will tell us if this trend is a good thing (i.e. players interest is increasing, tag is undercrowded) or if it's the opposite.
The Early Access tag has peaked in 2022, with 1490 games released. The tag's popularity is in a range between 0.09% in 2013 and 1.4% in 2019.
Bear in mind that 2023 is not over yet. The number of releases will continue to increase, but the percentage is already a good estimate of things to come.
Early Access's popularity amongst players
On this chart, you can see the reviews for games associated with the Early Access tag, both as count and as a percentage of all Steam reviews, and the value for an average game. Note that if the normalized and average lines are too small, you can deactivate the review count and % of the average lines by clicking on the legend.
While the review count clearly quantifies the reviews a tag receives, keep in mind that it also follows the popularity of Steam itself. The value normalized as a percentage of all Steam reviews is often more revealing, as it gives you the popularity trend for Early Access tag games.
A standard game associated with this tag received on average between 59 (2011) and 1409 (2014) reviews. Bear in mind that it is the average, and it can be strongly influenced by extreme values, like the release of a very popular game with this tag.
The reviews per game as a percentage of the average show that games in the Early Access tag received between 47% (2011) and 217% (2014) reviews compared to other tags.
Price of games tagged with Early Access
This graph displays the evolution of the Early Access tag's games price in USD over the years, and the percentage of free to play games in this tag. Don't forget that a price should slowly increase year-on-year just to keep up with inflation.
The median game price peaked in 2014 at 9.99$, and bottomed in 2016 at 7.99$. The free to play ratio peaked in 2019 at 16%, and bottomed in 2023 at 1%.
Positive reviews ratio for Early Access, per language
This chart shows an aggregated Steam rating for all the Early Access tag games, classed by language. It helps estimate how different audiences judge a game with this tag. A lower rating doesn't always mean that the audience doesn't enjoy that particular tag, as some cultures tend to always give lower scores. But it will affect a game's rating nonetheless.
The best rating for Early Access games is 91% for the Romanian audience, and the worst is 71% for the Simplified Chinese audience.
| Image | Name | Description | Price | Rating | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Waves 2: Notorious | Waves 2: Notorious is an arcade twin-stick shooter set in Cyberspace. Build Combos, earn Adrenaline and unleash powerful Burst attacks as you Dive into the Net and do battle against an AI that adapts to your weaknesses! | Free | 88.1% | Dec 16, 2015 |
  | Jeklynn Heights | A corrupt and bizarre town is the quirky setting to Jeklynn Heights, a fantastical and competitive online game. Run by a Mayor with a split personality and enigmatic past, a spell haunts the town he rules. Players must complete objectives, directed by the Mayor, to win and escape the town. | Free | 76.2% | May 25, 2016 |
  | WWII Online | WW2 Online is a completely F2P player-driven simulated wargame with a first-person tactical and strategic layer. You’ll fight a global war on a single worldwide server capable of holding thousands of players. Unmatched combined arms gameplay on a massive scale, now with built-in voice comms. | Free | 71.1% | Jul 6, 2023 |
  | Lacuna Passage | Explore the vast terrains of Mars, generated from real NASA satellite data, and survive threats like dust storms by discovering randomized supply caches and habitats. Adventure on foot or in driveable rovers with this otherworldly first-person sandbox. | 9.99 | 60% | May 17, 2017 |
  | Secrets of Grindea | A fantasy Action RPG, playable by yourself or in co-op with up to three friends! Features an unrestricted skill system, fluid and challenging combat, and an engaging story. For additional value, there's also a fleshed out, challenging roguelike mode to truly put your ARPG skills to the test! | 14.99 | 90.5% | Jul 13, 2015 |
  | Gunjitsu | Gunjitsu is a fast-paced platform shooter with grappling hooks, rocket launchers, guns and grenades! Kill your opponents or race them for the fastest time. Inspirations from old platform shooters gives Gunjitsu a classic feel while modern tech takes it to a new level of frantic action! | 3.99 | 80.7% | Jul 31, 2015 |
  | Colossal Kaiju Combat™: Kaijuland Battles | From the folk who brought you classic Kaiju titles like "Godzilla: Save the Earth" comes the next generation of monster-on-monster fighting action! In this first release, play as any of four Kaijuland characters. 1-4 players, online or off! Future releases will feature original characters designed by our fans. | 4.99 | 45.3% | Aug 11, 2014 |
  | Xsyon - Prelude | Xsyon is a player driven apocalyptic fantasy sandbox MMORPG, set in a living and evolving environment. Players create the world they want to live in as they form tribes, construct towns, shape landscapes, create quests, hunt, farm, gather, build societies and develop a New World. | 29.99 | 69.7% | Dec 29, 2014 |
  | Black Ice | Hack greedy megacorps to help as many people as you can in a high-agility cyberpunk looter/shooter RPG. Explore vast cyberspace vistas and outmaneuver AIs to customize your loadout with an arsenal of weapon combos. Think Borderlands meets Tron. Play solo or online co-op with up to 10 people! | 19.99 | 95.1% | Jul 9, 2014 |
  | Wild Warfare | Wild Warfare is a F2P, multiplayer FPS made for players that enjoy fun and/or being a bear. It's a mix of crazy game modes, balanced classes, simple controls and intense matches. Its got vehicle combat, because why not? You can even be a bunny that clubs people with a wrench, lucky you. | Free | 90.9% | Jul 15, 2014 |
  | SpaceEngine | The world's first science-based photorealistic interactive 3D planetarium that models the entire Universe, using procedural generation for uncharted areas. | 29.99 | 95.7% | Jun 11, 2019 |
  | Zone 22 | Zone 22 is a First Person RPG where you live within a dystopian society. You're expected to live your life and work for this tyrannic foe. Or you could rebel and eventually lead your people towards freedom! | 7.99 | N/A | Jul 31, 2015 |
  | Metaverse | In Metaverse you will dig, discover, design, deploy, and defend. Explore, build upon, or tear apart your own procedurally generated voxel planet. And now in the early stages of our multiplayer implementation, help conquer or build the planets of others. | 19.99 | 34.9% | Apr 5, 2016 |
  | Infinite Game Works Episode 1 | The second game about making games! Care for and build relationships with your teammates! Now with an in-depth game development system, more story (just like you asked for), and more... | 7.99 | N/A | Oct 26, 2015 |
  | KeeperRL | Ambitious dungeon simulator with roguelike and RPG elements. Take the role of an evil wizard and study the methods of black magic. Equip your minions and explore the world, murder innocent villagers and burn their homes. Build your dungeon, lay traps and prepare for an assault of angry heroes. | 19.99 | 86.9% | Mar 31, 2015 |
  | Amazing Frog? | Amazing Frog? is the original open world buffet of bonkers physics sandbox…ness for up to four players. | 15.99 | 93.2% | Nov 21, 2014 |
  | Friendship Club | Imaginary friends do battle in the mind of young Timmy Bibble! Who will be victorious in this arena of improbable dimensions, where no two rooms are the same and bullets bounce forever?! Get your buddies together for the ultimate showdown in this bullet hell party game! | 11.99 | 79% | Mar 24, 2015 |
  | Star Rangers™ XE | Explore space and build on other worlds in Star Rangers! Star Rangers is a space exploration and construction game that allows players to build habitats and spacecraft, acquire gear and explore the solar system. | 11.99 | 30.8% | Jul 6, 2016 |
  | ORBITOR | Navigate the mysterious Quantum Nebula and dismantle it's gravity machine piece by piece before it destroys The Galaxy. | 14.99 | 67.7% | Aug 21, 2015 |
  | Retro Commander | Retro Commander is a post-apocalyptic real-time strategy wargame (RTS). | Free | 81.3% | May 11, 2022 |
  | 10 Years After | “10 Years After” Is a survival based horror (Open World) Single Player Adventure ..........After the government rolled out a injection to the general public to stem the violence and quell the human emotion's things were going well …..... | 5.99 | 19.1% | Jan 30, 2015 |
  | Artizens | Create the most customizable character ever and take on ferocious monsters with your friends online. | Free | 50% | Mar 5, 2015 |
  | Man Alive | Man Alive is a platform game with a twist (or two). We are working with the idea that death is not the end. There are no health packs, because we promote death in Man Alive! | 4.99 | 22.7% | May 25, 2015 |