Surviving the Abyss, Early Access, and Abandonware

by Rian

There are several games on my radar I am eagerly waiting to see the final copy of. Since Steam has started Early Access (i.e. preorder now and start playing beta, or pre-beta version), many developers have built their new business models around the idea that there is another source of revenue until the actual release of the game.

Aside from the fact that Early Access is yet another pre-order in disguise, there are at least two major problems with the current Early Access program on Steam: a. product delivered as early access can be in any state so long as it runs, b. developers are obligated to deliver “final” product in any state so long as it is marked “final”. Neither of the stages are obligated to meet a standard, and as a result, a game with Early Access is effectively left unregulated.

Surviving the Abyss is yet another colony survival sim from Paradox, developed by Rocket Flair Studios. The game has a similar synopsis as Surviving Mars, only that it is now set in secret underwater base during the height of Cold War. The player is tasked to run secret clone programs against all odds of the deep sea, including the mysterious monsters lurking within.

The game was released for Early Access in January 2023. And after 12 months of Early Access period as developers had previously promised, the game is still sitting at version 0.3.0. In September 2023, the developers shared their plans for the game, saying Early Access “has not been as successful as [devs] had hoped” and will be bringing the game to version 1.0 and “closing in a stable”. But what is exactly different from current version (0.3) and 1.0? What is stopping any Early Access bestsellers to be rebranded as “final” and shipped off as is?

Early Access, in its current form, is a just another marketing term for “as-is”. Steam is clear on the fact that buyers are getting an unfinished game, but there are no special considerations for refunds, reviews, or the release of the final product. In fact, Steam goes far and beyond to say some developers may not “finish” the game at all, and buyers should be aware of the consequences. The documentation alone guarantees that there is no safeguard from a nefarious actor selling an unfinished product filled with hype then abandoning it.

Will I review Surviving the Abyss once it’s fully released? I certainly hope so. Though the version I played only had glitchy tutorials and unfinished mid to late game contents, the premise of Rapture-like city builder with the polish from Suviving Mars, is to my liking. But much like what I had said in any other spiels, if it plays like abandoned, delivered like abandoned, and won’t be updated like abandoned, then it is an abandonware.