Early access
Also said as EA, Steam Early Access, Paid beta
Selling a game before it is finished, and updating it in public. Steam started its programme in March 2013.
It pays for development and gets you real testers. The cost is that you only launch once, and many people will have formed an opinion from the unfinished version. Promise only what you can pay for: buyers are paying for what exists today, and many early access games are never finished.
Say it
“Only go to early access once a full run is fun on its own. Publish a roadmap with dates we would be happy to miss, and sell it on what is in the build today, not on what is coming.”
Where you’ve seen it
Hades was in early access from December 2018 before leaving in September 2020. Baldur's Gate 3 spent nearly three years there, from October 2020 to August 2023, and player feedback changed it a lot.
Not to be confused with crowdfunding
Crowdfunding sells a promise, often before there is any game. Early access sells a game you can play today.