Early Access can be a strange beast because it can last a year, several years, a fraction of that time, or considerably longer. There is no firm timeline and window on how long a game has to remain in the Early Access programme.
For developer Frost Giant Studios, they seem to believe that less time is for the better, as it has been revealed that the RTS Stormgate is departing Early Access and launching in full as soon as next week on August 5.
The game will be coming out in a version that includes its fundamentals spanning a "robust 1v1 mode," access to a Terrain Editor Alpha, a Co-op mode, and the first full story, which is known as Campaign One - Ashes of the Earth. While the multiplayer and the campaign are ready to go, both the terrain editor and the co-op element are still in active development, with it being an early access taste of what's to come, you might say.
As for why Frost Giant is jumping the gun to some extent, the developer has stated the following:
"This approach will allow us to properly recognize each release for what it is: not an incremental addition to a progress bar with an arbitrary "1.0" at the end, but a meaningful addition to what has come before, with new features, modes, content, and improvements for players to enjoy. Each release will steadily move us towards our vision for Stormgate as a frequently updated and supported RTS that, with your help, will grow and evolve for years to come."
The developer goes on in an FAQ where it explains its decision to leave Early Access without many of its modes.
"After a year of progress with the help of our community's feedback, we believe that our campaign and 1v1 are ready for a broader audience. We will obviously continue to incorporate feedback on these modes moving forward, but we feel that these modes are at a point where players at large can enjoy them.
"Other modes, like Co-op Missions and the editor, will be available in a developmental state through our in-game "test kitchen" which we're calling Sigma Labs. Those modes will continue to expand over time, in the same way that past RTS games launched and grew from there."
"We hope that players will understand our choice to prioritize the fundamentals first, and to release with our campaign and 1v1 modes while we continue to fill out the rest of our long-term vision. Quality over quantity was our single biggest learning from Early Access. As an independent studio, we have limited resources, and exiting Early Access is a critical step towards sustaining our ongoing development. We remain very committed to achieving our full vision, and we want to be forthright that our Steam launch is a debut rather than the end of a journey."
Are you a Stormgate player or do you intend to check out the game when it launches in full next week?