Steam’s Early Access Model: A Study on Consumers’ Perspective

Involving consumers as influencers of the video game development process is the main feature of Steam's early access model. This has led to the exponential increase in the popularity of Steam's early access games. Steam being the most widespread digital distribution platform for video games on computers is part of the reason for the success of the early access model. Another part is the abundance of possibilities for game developers to communicate with end users and vice versa. The model is considered a success by the game development community as numerous games using Steam's early access as their distribution platform have gained a large user base (game owners) and high sales, even though, on principle early access games are not complete and are offered for sale in alpha and beta stages with no guarantees on release date or development schedule. Hence, the success of such a model cannot just be measured with owner and sale numbers. This paper aims to explore the interconnection between employing Steam's early access model and the satisfaction of consumers.