Theres no shortage of critics voicing their concerns with the ever-growing prevalence of DLC and day one patches.

Yes, console gamers have arguably been shafted by the arrival of DLC, thats for sure.

But is DLC only the tip of the iceberg?

Its buggy, unoptimised and prone to crashes.

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DayZEarly Access is your chance to experienceDayZas it evolves throughout its development process.

It is a work in progress and therefore contains a variety of bugs.

Its hard to have any issues with this really.

Bohemia Interactive is being upfront and candid about its title.

Its charging you $30 for an unfinished product, but there are no secrets.

And its not just the smaller developers and publishers that are using this as a viable release avenue.

But it this really a good thing, and are the developers making more than a killing financially?

Focus testing groups are also often used to ensure a title hits the right bases for the mass market.

All of this costs money.

Whats needed is some way to increase testing time, and to minimise costs.

Enter, early access.

But is this how we really want game development to continue?

Retail RIP?

In fact, putting out a game that was unfinished was tantamount to commercial suicide.

Surely, the pinnacle of this loose development could be early access.

TakeDayZ,for example.

So, its only going to appeal to a certain kind of player.

If you relish the chance to survive in a world so mean and unforgiving,DayZis for you.

If not, do you avoid it, or put up with the grief and help shape it?

However, what if the game eventually changes due to feedback?

WouldNinja Gaidenhave been a truly challenging AAA title, or would it have been dumbed down like its sequels?

Its obviously unfair to say either way, but the question is there to be asked.

Committees approve only what they know will sell, and few risks are taken.

Opening up a title early to the public could swing this trend either way.

Crash, bang, wallet

Early access also features another troubling side-effect.

Although very rare, game and system crashed can cause damage to a PC.

Files can become corrupt, hard drive sectors damaged and other issues can be caused.

Its unlikely, sure, but its possible.

The practice of early access is currently PC-only, but what when it inevitably makes the jump to console?

Consoles are nowhere near as stable and bug-free as they used to be.

Technical issues aside, what about good, old fashioned boredom?

Your servers are bereft of players, and the community is too small to sustain a title.

They ditch one title and move on to another that takes their interest, and the process repeats.

It seems as though gamers who stick with games to the bitter end are becoming thin on the ground.

Early access, on the other hand, could be the opposite.

No, not really.

What if EA and Activision follow suit?

This may excite you, or it may worry you.

Sure, theres always a way.

One of the reasons closed betas work is that users are controlled and selected carefully.

Second, dont charge full price for an unfinished game.

At the very least, drop that to half.

you’re able to always ask for another $10-15 for the boxed copy when it arrives.

Thirdly, teams need to be very clear on what they want from potential players/testers.

We know the game isnt finished, but whats missing?

What kind of things are you working on now, what can we expect to be added?

Its okay being all jovial, saying, Some things work, some things dont.

We havent totally decided where the game is headed so things will change, as stated by theRustSteam page.

What if you pay your money, and the game changes so drastically, you no longer like it?

Right or wrong?

Well, thats a grey area.

Buyer beware is pretty much the rule of thumb with early access.

Ive mentioned it already, but take EA and DICEsBattlefield 4.

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