More and more games are becoming available in early access before they’re finished, with Hades 2 highlighting why that can be a good move for developers — and I still don’t like it as a player. There’s a certain amount of testing necessary for any good game development cycle, and a big part of that is bringing in fresh eyes on a project. Demos and alpha builds are crucial for developers to see how the game works in motion, and can be crucial in discovering hiccups and glitches that would otherwise hinder the final experience.
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However, games are getting early access releases where players pay full price for uncompleted games. That’s different — even if players get the full game for free upon release, unlocking only certain portions of the experience during early access has always struck me as something different. Hades 2 is undoubtedly a better full experience because it was released in early access and got the chance to be stress-tested by players — but I’m still glad I waited for the full game.
Why Hades 2 Benefited From Early Access
Hades 2 had an early access release that began in 2024, giving players a chance to dive into some of the early elements of Supergiant’s newest game before the game was complete. The result was an experience that had a lot of the tight gameplay and compelling story beats that make the game so good, but at the cost of any conclusive story turns or complete character growth. Players who finished the early access had to wait until the following year to complete the experience, when Hades 2 was finished and fully released. The final product is one of the best games of 2025 and another modern masterpiece from SuperGiant. However, it’s also a game that suffered in the interim in some key ways as a result.
The initial early access got players excited for a return to Supergiant’s version of the underworld. However, this also left players disappointed when the story was cut off suddenly by the end of early access — and meant fan momentum for the release was dented when it finally launched. This followed their previous efforts with the first Hades, which was also debuted in early access before coming together for the full release. It had a similar effect then, too, impressing gamers early on but costing the game some of the impact it might have had on the larger gaming culture if it had landed as a single game.
It’s possible the early access approach even negatively impacted Hades 2‘s chances at events like the Game Awards, where a full release in 2025 instead of a staggered release starting the previous hurt the game’s chances. The early access approach was a useful tool for Supergiant, which used the early tease as a means of whetting fans’ appetites while finding the elements of the game that needed further work. As with the first game, however, I also ignored the early access and waited for the finished game.
Why I’m Conflicted About Early Access Releases
While early access has some distinct advantages for developers, it’s a more complicated prospect for players. Early access gives players a chance to push the game to the limits, finding bugs and glitches in a natural way that developers might miss after being so deeply entrenched in the production of the game. However, for players, early access can present unbalanced challenges or inconsistent challenges. It can break the game in some unexpected ways, shaping player perception in some key ways. A truth about game development is that delays may be frustrating, but they’re often worth the additional production time if they can improve the title and enhance the experience.
Early access can shape a player’s perception of a title long before the final game is finished, or even lead gamers to ignore titles when they finally drop. As much as I don’t want games to be delayed, I’d rather wait for the finished product before I dive into an experience. I don’t want to get invested in a game only to find out after 10 hours that I have to wait another year to move on. One of the things I love about games over other forms of modern entertainment, like television, is the way a good game can be self-contained and complete.
Even something like Dispatch only worked because it had a dedicated and specific release scheduled, and I imagine it’ll play even better for newbies now that the entire game can be binged in a single experience. Early access is a great tool for developers, and Hades 2 seriously benefited from a game development standpoint, thanks to that aspect. I understand why developers do it, and I even get why players are so excited for a project that they want to jump in even before it’s finished. However, that hasn’t changed my mind on why I avoid early access.
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Image courtesy of Marvel Studios.
