'AAA publishers are abusing early access,' Denis Dyack says, making things harder for everyone else

Denis Dyack, known for Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, says AAA publishers are abusing early access by using it as a marketing beat for polished games that are essentially ready for full release. He argues this skews player expectations and creates significant barriers for smaller indie developers, including his own Deadhaus Sonata, now in early access on Steam. In the same report, Subnautica 2 creative director Anthony Gallegos agreed that early access now spans everything from long-term open development to a paid beta three months before a 1.0 launch.