How long did they say Early Access would take, and how long has it been? · 2,782 in Early Access · 3,857 promises read · 1,271 announced, not started
| Year | Games | In Early Access now | Graduated | Median time in EA | Promise read | Overdue | Promise kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,224 | 1,199 | 252% | 2 months | 1,16996% | 46of 1,053 parsed | — |
| 2025 | 494 | 494 | 00% | 13 months | 46494% | 175of 397 parsed | — |
| 2024 | 262 | 262 | 00% | 2 years 1 month | 24895% | 149of 201 parsed | — |
| 2023 | 138 | 138 | 00% | 3 years 2 months | 12893% | 82of 105 parsed | — |
| 2022 | 93 | 93 | 00% | 4 years 2 months | 8692% | 55of 66 parsed | — |
| 2021 | 73 | 73 | 00% | 5 years 2 months | 6690% | 42of 51 parsed | — |
| 2020 | 58 | 58 | 00% | 6 years 2 months | 5798% | 30of 37 parsed | — |
| 2019 | 53 | 53 | 00% | 7 years 3 months | 53100% | 27of 30 parsed | — |
| 2018 | 37 | 37 | 00% | 8 years 3 months | 3595% | 27of 28 parsed | — |
| 2017 | 49 | 49 | 00% | 9 years 3 months | 4898% | 27of 29 parsed | — |
| Game | Promise | Promised | Elapsed | Clock | Verdict | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZedFall: OutbreakZedFall: Outbreak | Up to a year, but hopefully less. The game is already playable start to finish, so the length of Early Access comes down to how much feedback arrives and how far it points. If players are happy with where it lands, it's possible to leave Early Access quicker.read 13 Sep 2026 | 0–12 months | 1 week | 3% | On the clock12 months left | |
| The Last ShootoutThe Last Shootout | 6 months up to a year. It'll be enough time to polish the game further, add more features, more maps, more characters etc.read 10 Sep 2026 | 6–12 months | 1 week | 3% | On the clock12 months left | |
| Runetome: Battle PracticeRunetome: Battle Practice | It's difficult to predict how long a project will take. Considering how long it took to reach the current level of gameplay I would estimate 1 to 2 years.read 6 Sep 2026 | 12–24 months | 3 weeks | 3% | On the clock23 months left | |
| Breathedge 2Breathedge 2 | We currently expect Breathedge 2 to remain in Early Access for roughly 16–20 months, though that may change depending on how development progresses, player feedback, and the scope of any changes we decide to make along the way. We plan to leave Early Access once the game is close enough to the full Breathedge 2 experience we have in mind and we’re happy with its overall state. We’ll also do our best to polish everything to a blinding shine and deprive players of at least some of the bugs they love so dearly.read 13 Sep 2026 | 16–20 months | 2 weeks | 2% | On the clock20 months left | |
| First SinFirst Sin | Our current plan is to remain in Early Access for 6 to 12 months. This window gives us enough time to expand the open world, introduce additional shop types, refine the crime systems, improve AI behavior, and test new content such as vehicles, online features, and advanced missions. However, we prefer transparency: if the community requests more features or deeper systems than initially planned, we may extend Early Access to deliver the best possible full release. We will provide regular updates, roadmap adjustments, and detailed communication throughout the entire process. The goal is not to stay in Early Access longer than necessary, but long enough to ensure a stable, feature-rich, and polished final game.read 12 Sep 2026 | 6–12 months | 1 week | 2% | On the clock12 months left | |
| GIANTESS PLAYGROUNDGIANTESS PLAYGROUND | Many months to a few years. We have a lot of improvements and continue to expand our scope for the games "playground." We will not be leaving Early Access for a long time, as we want to add a lot of content and functionality to the Giantess community via this software (Custom characters via VRM Importing, custom animations as well.)read 8 Sep 2026 | 24–48 months | 1 month | 2% | On the clock3 years 11 months left | |
| Town DiggersTown Diggers | Town Diggers will be in early access for approximately 18 months.read 6 Sep 2026 | about 18 months | 1 week | 2% | On the clock18 months left | |
| Not Quite Dead: Open World SurvivalNot Quite Dead: Open World Survival | 1 - 2 years.read 13 Sep 2026 | 12–24 months | 2 weeks | 2% | On the clock2 years left | |
| Wiz-HerdWiz-Herd | We estimate that Wiz-herd will be in Early Access for a year. Our schedule is not very rigid as Wiz-herd is a passion project for all of us while we take on full-time responsibilities in other roles.read 8 Sep 2026 | about 12 months | 6 days | 2% | On the clock12 months left | |
| Infected EscapedInfected Escaped | About 2 to 3 yearsread 14 Sep 2026 | 24–36 months | 3 weeks | 2% | On the clock2 years 11 months left | |
| Tales Of Glory 4 : RagnarokTales Of Glory 4 : Ragnarok | The game will stay in Early Access for 1 yearread 14 Sep 2026 | about 12 months | 5 days | 1% | On the clock12 months left | |
| Bunker RatsBunker Rats | As a solo developer, I currently expect Bunker Rats to remain in Early Access for approximately 12 to 18 months. This estimate may change depending on player feedback, testing results, and the amount of work required to properly develop and polish additional content.read 13 Sep 2026 | 12–18 months | 1 week | 1% | On the clock18 months left | |
| Code Name: BoogeymanCode Name: Boogeyman | The product will remain in Early Access for a while longer. It is expected to leave this state at the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027 unless otherwise indicated.read 13 Sep 2026 | 7 monthsuntil 31 Mar 2027 | 2 days | 1% | On the clock7 months left | |
| Random ShitRandom Shit | This game will be in Early Access for roughly 18 months. This is an estimate rather than a promise — my solo development timeline will most likely shift, and I'd rather extend Early Access than leave it before the game is ready.read 9 Sep 2026 | about 18 months | 5 days | 1% | On the clock18 months left | |
| NEONFALLNEONFALL | We expect NEONFALL to be in Early Access for roughly 6 to 9 months. The core game is already feature-complete, so this window is for balance passes, co-op stability, controller and rebinding support, and the additional biomes — not for building the game from scratch.read 13 Sep 2026 | 6–9 months | 2 days | 1% | On the clock9 months left | |
| TheoSyncTheoSync | Our plan is for an Early Access period of ~2 years, giving us ample time to realize the complete vision for TheoSync without sacrificing content or quality.read 12 Sep 2026 | about 2 years | 6 days | 1% | On the clock2 years left | |
| WARDOGSWARDOGS | We expect WARDOGS to remain in Early Access for around 1 to 2 years. We are adamant that we do not want to be in Early Access for a long time. That time is planned for expanding content, improving systems, refining balance, and responding to player feedback. The exact duration may change depending on how development and community feedback evolves.read 14 Sep 2026 | 12–24 months | 4 days | 1% | On the clock2 years left | |
| Friendly FireFriendly Fire | Approximately 6 to 12 months. The actual timeline depends on how quickly we can process player feedback and our content update cadence. The window may shorten or extend depending on how much the game needs to be reworked.read 10 Sep 2026 | 6–12 months | 1 day | 0% | On the clock12 months left |
A game is in Early Access when the store lists it among its genres; the clock starts on the day the ledger saw it enter or, for a game that launched into Early Access, on the release date the store prints. The promise is the developer’s own questionnaire answer, kept word for word; only ranges and single figures are compared, open answers are listed as open, and answers the parser could not read say so. Graduations are recorded from 3 Sep 2026, so earlier years undercount them. A game whose questionnaire has not been read yet says “not read yet” under No promise (how). Data by SteamPeaks.com.