7 Days to Die – an open-world zombie game that first released back in December 2013 – is finally leaving early access.
Developer The Fun Pimps says that the next update will not only usher in new gore, challenges, and improved controller support, but also move the 11-year-old game out of early access for the very first time.
It’s not all good news, though, particularly if you already own the £30 zombie game on console.
Agreed. That’s ridiculous.
I always try to stay away from early access games that are a freaking decade+ old. That’s a scam.
There are some great games that are in eternal Early Access. Dwarf Fortress, Starsector, nearly every roguelike…
Project Zomboid, which voracitude recommended as a better alternative to 7 Days To Die, was actually one of the first indie games to ever enter early access, is still in alpha, and yet is one of the best zombie games out there.
I think it’s best not to get caught up worrying about the “early access” tag and to just evaluate what the game is like right now instead.
Factorio and Last Epoch are both games that I bought in early access (they’ve both fully released now, though) and, at the time I purchased them, I think they were worth my money. They’ve both only improved since that time, which is great, but even if they were never updated again after I bought them, I would have considered them very worthwhile purchases. I played both for hundreds of hours in their early access states and had fantastic times with them (and still do post-full release, too).
And then, conversely, there are plenty of games that are fully released that aren’t worth your time or money despite not being “early access”.