Yleiskatsaus

Mitä Early Access tarkoittaa?

Steamin Early Accessin avulla voit myydä peliäsi Steamissä samaan aikaan, kun sitä kehitetään. Sinun tulee kertoa asiakkaillesi, että tuote on edelleen "keskeneräinen." Early Access on paikka peleille, jotka ovat pelattavassa alfa- tai betavaiheessa ja ovat koontiversion hinnan arvoisia. Myös sinä aiot jatkaa niiden kehittämistä julkaisuun asti.

Kun julkaiset pelin Early Access -muodossa, potentiaaliset asiakkaat pääsevät tutustumaan siihen. Voit kertoa heille suunnitelmistasi ja tavoitteistasi ennen "lopullista" julkaisua.

Mitä Early Access ei tarjoa?

Early Access ei ole tuotteesi kehityksen joukkorahoitustapa.
Early Accessia ei tulisi käyttää vain kehitystyön rahoittamiseen. Jos lasket sen varaan, että saat tietyn pelimäärän myynnin turvin viimeisteltyä pelin, sinun on myös pohdittava huolellisesti, mitä myynnin epäonnistuminen tarkoittaisi sinulle ja tiimillesi. Oletko valmis jatkamaan pelin kehittämistä ilman myyntituloja? Oletko valmis etsimään muita rahoitusmuotoja?

Early Access ei tarkoita ennakkoon ostamista.
Early Accessiä ei ole tarkoitettu ennakko-ostamisen tavaksi. Se on työkalu, jolla saat esiteltyä pelisi Steamin käyttäjille ja sinä saat palautetta samalla, kun viimeistelet peliäsi.

Early Access -tuotteen tulee olla peli, joka on heti asiakkaan pelattavissa tai ohjelmisto, joka on heti käytettävissä ostohetkestä lukien. Ennakkoon ostetut tuotteet toimitetaan tulevana ajankohtana. Lisätietoja: Ennakkotilaaminen Steamissä.

Onko Early Access oikea valinta minulle?

Early Access on työkalu, jossa yhteisön avustuksella kehität peliäsi. Teet sen antamalla pelisi kokeiltavaksi ennen sen virallista julkaisua. Harkitse tarkkaan, sopiiko tällainen kehitysmalli pelillesi. Suosittelemme, että tutustut muihin Steamin Early Access -peleihin ja kehittäjäfoorumien keskusteluihin. Alla olevista esimerkkitapauksista saat lisätietoja kehittäjien Early Access -kokemuksista:

Tammikuun 2014 Steam Dev Days -tapahtumassa neljä kehittäjää kertoi, mitä he oppivat Early Accessin käyttämisestä, sen vaikutuksesta kehitystyöhön ja myyntiin ja siitä, milloin Early Access on järkevä valinta.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRDwA3cQmlc
Keskustelemassa: Justin Bailey (Double Fine), Bob Berry (Uber Entertainment), Jamie Cheng (Klei Entertainment) ja Mark Morris (Introversion)

https://youtu.be/xXeoByO-OFE

Säännöt

1. You must include Steam Early Access branding and information about the current state of your game on any third-party sites where you are distributing Steam keys for your Early Access game. We work very hard to make sure that customers understand what they are buying when they get an Early Access title on Steam, and this expectation continues wherever Steam keys are distributed. You must include the Steam Early Access branding as well as current information on the state of your game, and a link to the Steam Early Access FAQ on any site where you are selling Steam keys for your Early Access title. Additionally, you should also include a copy of the Early Access questionnaire. You can read more in the Steam Branding Guidelines.

2. Do not make specific promises about future events. For example, there is no way you can know exactly when the game will be finished, that the game will be finished, or that planned future additions will definitely happen. Do not ask your customers to bet on the future of your game. Customers should be buying your game based on its current state, not on promises of a future that may or may not be realized.

3. Steam Early Access titles need to be available to customers through Steam. If Steam enables your Early Access game, we expect you to have the Early Access game available for sale on the Steam store. Do not offer it for sale on Steam any later than you offer it anywhere else.

4. Don't overcharge Steam customers. The Early Access price of your game should be no higher than that offered on any other service or website. Please take care of your customers on Steam.

5. Make sure you set expectations properly everywhere you talk about your game. Be transparent with your community. For example, if you know your updates during Early Access will break save files, make sure you tell players up front. And say this everywhere you sell your Steam keys.

6. Don't launch in Early Access without a playable game. If you have a tech demo, but not much gameplay yet, then it’s probably too early to launch in Early Access. If you are trying to test out a concept and haven't yet figured out what players are going to do in your game that makes it fun, then it's probably too early. You might want to start by giving out keys to select fans and getting input from a smaller and focused group before you release in Early Access. At a bare minimum, you will need a video trailer that shows gameplay. Even if you are asking for feedback that will impact gameplay, customers need something to start with in order to give informed feedback and suggestions.

7. Don't launch in Early Access if you are finished with development. If you have all your gameplay defined already and are just looking for final bug testing, then Early Access isn’t right for you. You’ll probably want to send out some keys to fans or do more internal playtesting instead. Early Access is intended as a place where customers can impact the final game.

Kysymyksiä ja vastauksia Early Accessistä

Below are some suggested guidelines for completing the Early Access questionnaire. You know your product best, so treat the answers below as guidelines. More than anything, you should try to be detailed and transparent with customers. This is your opportunity to talk about your plans, set overall expectations, and start the conversation with your community as you work towards a final release. You may also find it helpful to find inspiration from the products or developers you admire.

Miksi Early Access?
What are your goals? Hopefully you will have the answer to this question before creating your store page. Early Access is a marathon, not a sprint. Make sure you are ready for the commitment of continuing to work on your product, receive feedback, and see your project through to completion.

Kauanko peli tulee arviolta olemaan Early Access -vaiheessa?
Be as specific as you can. If you don't have a target date range, explain why.

Millä tavoin lopullinen versio tulee eroamaan Early Access -versiosta?
Again, think about your goals. "Full version" means different things for every product, and this is something only you can decide. Be specific about what you plan on adding, or the data you hope to collect. Don't worry if you end up changing your mind later - that's the point! If you are transparent and listen to your community, you'll be in good shape.

Mikä on Early Access -version tila tällä hetkellä?
What can a customer buy and use today? Be specific in terms of modes, features, levels, etc. You might need to update this section every few weeks or months, to make sure it reflects your progress.

Muuttuuko pelin hinta Early Access -vaiheen jälkeen?
There is no rule on how you price your final product, or official best practice. Many successful developers have raised the price, and many have ultimately lowered the price. In general, try to think of things from an Early Access customer's point of view. How would they feel about this decision. You should aim to reward your early supporters and make them feel like their time and effort was worth it. That doesn't necessarily mean your Early Access price is lower than your final release, but try to provide some kind of value to your Early Access community.

Kuinka osallistat yhteisösi kehitysprosessiin?
The Community plays a crucial role in Early Access development. How will you communicate with your users? On a forum? Your website? How often? This is your chance to tell your users how they can shape your product's development.

Early Accessin aktivointi

These steps need to be taken prior to the release of your game.

To enable Early Access on your product, complete the following steps:

1. Valitse Early Access -valintaruutu tuotteesi kauppasivun määritysosion Early Access -välilehdellä.
   
2. Vastaa Early Access -kyselyyn. Lisätietoja kyselystä on täällä.

Once your product page and Q&A have been completed and reviewed by Valve, you may release your title in Early Access. For more information on releasing your title, see Release Process.

Parhaat käytännöt

Early Access -hinnoittelu

Pricing decisions depend on the nature of your game and what behavior you'd like to encourage. Most developers have chosen to start out with lower price than their target launch price. This establishes a price that is fair for the content being provided at that time, with the intention that the price will rise over time as more content is added and the game becomes more polished.

Conversely, some developers have chosen to set their Early Access price higher than the target launch price so that they can reach a smaller group of more dedicated fans.

Note that you will not be able to run a discount within 30 days following a price increase. This includes a launch discount when your title transitions from Early Access to fully released. If you have raised your base price within 30 days of this transition you will not be able to run a launch discount.

Please see Early Access Pricing FAQ for more information.

Siirtyminen Early Access -vaiheesta lopulliseen julkaisuun

When you consider your product "feature complete" and no longer in a significant state of change, you may transition from Early Access to 'Released.' It is worth noting this does not mean you should stop adding features or updating your product--you should keep adding content or fixing bugs as is appropriate for your title.
When you are ready to remove the Early Access context from around your product, complete the following steps:

1. Lataa ja julkaise päivitetty koontiversio pelistäsi tai ohjelmistostasi.
   
2. Valmistele peli lopulliseen julkaisuun valitsemalla "Näytä julkaisuasetukset" tuotteen aloitussivun yläosasta. Kun valitset "Julkaise"-painikkeen, pelisi julkaisupäivä päivitetään, Steamin Early Access -brändäys poistetaan kauppasivulta ja mahdollisesti määrittämäsi julkaisutarjous tulee voimaan.
   
3. Suosittelemme, että ilmoitat yhteisökeskuksessasi pelisi siirtymisestä Early Access -vaiheesta julkaisuksi.

Markkinointi ja näkyvyys Early Accessissa

In many ways, Early Access titles are treated the same as "fully released" titles. You will still be able to run discounts, featured in promotions, and be organically recommended to other customers. However, you will not receive your full launch visibility until you are fully released. See Visibility on Steam for more information.

Usein kysytyt kysymykset

• Q: Can my Early Access Game be listed as Coming Soon?

  A: Yes, as long as your product isn't already available for purchase. Once you have an Early Access title up for purchase, there is no notion of a product as being available to purchase in Early Access and coming soon at the same time. If you want to communicate that you will be leaving Early Access soon, use the Early Access Q&A.
  
  

• Q: Is it okay to raise my price after leaving Early Access?

  A: Yes, though if you raise your price, you must wait at least 30 days before changing your price again or running a discount. If you increase your price within 30 days of your transition from Early Access to fully released, your launch discount will not apply.
  
  If you're planning on raising your price at or around the time of releasing out of Early Access and want to run a discount to celebrate your V1.0 release, you may want to consider these scenarios:
  
  • You could leave your price as is, run a discount as you release V1.0 out of Early Access and then raise your price after that.
    
  • You could raise your price as you transition out of Early Access and not run a discount.
    
  • You could raise your price more than 30 days before you release out of Early Access, and then run a discount to go with your V1.0 release.
  
  

• Q: What happens if I don't complete my game?

  A: Sometimes things don't work out as you planned, and you may need to discontinue development of your game. If this happens, you should contact Valve to figure out the next steps. Before reaching out, take a moment to carefully consider whether or not pulling your game down is actually the right choice. Are you acting based on an emotional response to negative feedback, or is retiring your game the appropriate next step? We take our relationship with customers seriously, so if you choose to cancel development of a game and retire it from the store, we will not republish it again later and we may offer refunds to any users who purchased it. Treating customers fairly is the most important thing to us. You can learn more by reading Removing a Product From Steam.
  
  

• Q: How will my early access launch be marketed? Do early access games get visibility on the store?

  A: Early Access titles are still able to run discounts, be featured in promotions, and be organically recommended to other users. Early Access titles do not receive the same launch visibility as a v1.0 release. Check the Visibility on Steam documentation for more details.
  
  

• Q: Do Early Access titles get "launch visibility"?

  A: Early Access titles will appear in the "All New Releases" tab in the Early Access section and if users have your title on their wishlist, they will receive an e-mail notification of its Early Access release. Also, Early Access titles may be recommended to specific users in various sections of the home page based on those users' preferences and tastes, it may appear on the "New and Trending" section on the Early Access page if the title is doing well and it can appear on 'top sellers' list on store home page and on relevant genre and tag pages if it has achieved sales rank.
  
  Once you're ready to fully release your titles, additional visibility areas apply. More can be found in the "Full Release Launch Visibility" section here: Visibility on Steam
  
  

• Q: How can I make my transition out of Early Access successful?

  A: Whether this is successful depends very heavily on your game and details about your game, so it’s very hard to give any sort of generalized advice. Think about factors like your game's performance while in Early Access, how satisfied players have been, and how much pent up demand there is. If your Early Access experience was already very polished & satisfying, there may not be a lot of pent up demand and therefore you may not see a big spike on launch without doing a larger launch campaign or huge difference in quality of the game on launch, it would simply be reflected in steady sales over time. You’ll probably be able to estimate your Early Access to 1.0 exit better than anyone else, because you know how you’ve been using Early Access best.
  
  

• Q: I forgot to enable Early Access, what do I do?

  A: If you already have a Coming Soon page for your product, you can enable Early Access yourself. Your store page will need to be reviewed again prior to release. If your game is already released, then it's not possible for a game to move backwards from "Released" to "Early Access". Steam has different launch visibility, displays, and reviews for when a game starts in Early Access. If you wish to communicate details about your development plans, please use the Community Hub (a pinned post can be very helpful) or consider adding the relevant information to the About The Game display section.
  
  

• Q: Once my game is released in Early Access, can I set my V1.0 launch date?

  A: Unfortunately there is not a field for you to enter your intended full release date (V1.0 release date). What we would suggest is once you know what that date is, create an Announcement with that information, including the date and any upcoming updates that will ship with V1.0.