How long did they say Early Access would take, and how long has it been? · 2,925 in Early Access · 4,068 promises read · 1,324 announced, not started
| Year | Games | In Early Access now | Graduated | Median time in EA | Promise read | Overdue | Promise kept |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1,252 | 1,223 | 292% | 2 months | 1,20296% | 50of 1,082 parsed | — |
| 2025 | 519 | 519 | 00% | 14 months | 48994% | 187of 420 parsed | — |
| 2024 | 265 | 265 | 00% | 2 years 1 month | 25195% | 151of 203 parsed | — |
| 2023 | 144 | 144 | 00% | 3 years 2 months | 13594% | 87of 112 parsed | — |
| 2022 | 95 | 95 | 00% | 4 years 2 months | 8893% | 56of 67 parsed | — |
| 2021 | 79 | 79 | 00% | 5 years 2 months | 7291% | 47of 57 parsed | — |
| 2020 | 65 | 65 | 00% | 6 years 2 months | 6498% | 36of 43 parsed | — |
| 2019 | 55 | 55 | 00% | 7 years 3 months | 55100% | 29of 32 parsed | — |
| 2018 | 42 | 42 | 00% | 8 years 3 months | 4095% | 30of 31 parsed | — |
| 2017 | 63 | 63 | 00% | 9 years 3 months | 6298% | 36of 39 parsed | — |
| Game | Promise | Promised | Elapsed | Clock | Verdict | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Gladiators ( SPQG )Ancient Gladiators ( SPQG ) | Probably 1-3 months.read 6 Sep 2026 | 1–3 months | 4 years 8 months | 1863% | Overdueby 4 years 5 months | |
| The BackroomsThe Backrooms | The game will be in early access for approximately 6 months. During that time there are 3 core priorities: Improving the game loop mechanics for maximum tension Expanding the types of environments available as you navigate the maze Increase the number of different creatures that will haunt youread 10 Sep 2026 | about 6 months | 3 years 11 months | 776% | Overdueby 3 years 5 months | |
| Tricking 0Tricking 0 | Roughly by March 2023 the game should be ready to go out of early access, I'd say I would need a full year to implement all the features I want for my game. I work on my own as a hobby so implementing all the amazing features the game deserves may take a while, but I have been frequently (3 times a month) releasing small updates on the past 3 months with new tricks and features little by little, and I plan to keep on working at the same pace.read 5 Sep 2026 | 1–12 months | 4 years 6 months | 446% | Overdueby 3 years 6 months | |
| SailSail | 8 - 12 months. But we will take as much time as necessary to make SAIL the VR pirate game it needs to be.read 7 Sep 2026 | 8–12 months | 4 years 1 month | 410% | Overdueby 3 years 1 month | |
| Boom SlingersBoom Slingers | We aim to have the full release ready in approximately 6 months to one year.read 7 Sep 2026 | 6–12 months | 4 years | 400% | Overdueby 3 years | |
| RUMBLERUMBLE | Could be up to a year, maybe longer. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be updates within that time, on the contrary. We intend to gradually build the game up to a full release, updating it with individual additions as time goes on.read 14 Sep 2026 | 0–12 months | 4 years | 398% | Overdueby 3 years | |
| SuperTotalCarnage!SuperTotalCarnage! | About 1 year and half for the planned content and features, but depending on player feedback and/or feature requests it might take longer.read 7 Sep 2026 | about 12 months | 3 years 11 months | 389% | Overdueby 2 years 11 months | |
| Kingdom Under Fire: War of HeroesKingdom Under Fire: War of Heroes | 1 yearread 7 Sep 2026 | about 12 months | 3 years 9 months | 377% | Overdueby 2 years 9 months | |
| Voor De KroonVoor De Kroon | I originally planned leaving early access after a year. (in 2023) The scope and quality of the game has grown a lot since then and I intend on leaving early access when the game is properly done. I expect this to be somewhere next year (2027).read 14 Sep 2026 | about 12 months | 3 years 9 months | 377% | Overdueby 2 years 9 months | |
| Black One Blood BrothersBlack One Blood Brothers | Hopefully, 18–24 months, with regular updates.read 9 Sep 2026 | 18–24 months | 4 years 8 months | 234% | Overdueby 2 years 8 months | |
| Infinite VoyagerInfinite Voyager | Infinite Voyager will be in Early Access for 12 to 24 months, tops. This will give enough time for all the updates and bug testing I need to get the game ready for a full release.read 13 Sep 2026 | 12–24 months | 4 years 7 months | 231% | Overdueby 2 years 7 months | |
| Escape PurgatoryEscape Purgatory | For Escape Purgatory (EP)'s beta build, we're aiming to be in early access for approximately two more years (until 2028). This time frame will allow us to gather player feedback, fine-tune new features, and ensure the game is polished before the full release. Our alpha phase lasted two years, and now one year in our beta phase with all the groundwork we've laid, we're confident this next stage will bring us closer to the full vision we want to share. Thank you for being part of the journey!the store says it leaves Early Access on 1 Oct 2028 | 12–24 months | 3 years 11 months | 195% | Overdueby 23 months | |
| The Elf MaidenThe Elf Maiden | A couple yearsread 11 Sep 2026 | 24–36 months | 4 years 4 months | 144% | Overdueby 16 months | |
| 171171 | Our expectation is to release the final version of the game in 2025, but this may change depending on how the game progresses in its early access and the resources available over time.read 5 Sep 2026 | 3 years 1 monthuntil 31 Dec 2025 | 3 years 10 months | 124% | Overdueby 9 months |
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.