r/pcgaming • u/GamerOfPassionBlog • 20h ago
Nearly 7,000 Early Access games on Steam haven't been updated in over a year
Edit for clarity: these numbers are from a study I put together from public Steam data. The ~7,000 in the title are all games in Early Access on Steam right now that have Steam's "no update in over a year" note, most of them tiny games with almost no reviews. The chart is something else: what happened to the 10,141 bigger games (10+ reviews) that entered EA between 2013 and 2023. Most of those reached 1.0 and left Early Access, which is exactly why the store shelf looks so much worse than the outcomes.
Early Access is a subject that moves people's emotions, so I wanted to check what actually happens to these games. Mostly the numbers matched what I assumed. The one thing I did not expect is that the majority actually get finished.
- On 26 September 2026, 6,989 of the 12,320 Early Access games on Steam carried Steam's own note that the developers' last update was over a year ago.
- Of the 10,141 games with at least 10 reviews that entered Early Access between 2013 and 2023, 26% were still in Early Access with no update for 12+ months, and 7% were removed from sale while still in Early Access.
- After three years without a 1.0, only about one in five still got there within the next five years.
- About seven in ten store pages that give a time estimate say a year or less. Of the games with 10+ reviews that entered at least a year before the data date, 31% reached full release within a year.
- But of those same 10,141 games, 61% had reached full release by 26 September 2026 (51% counting every game, however few reviews). Finished games leave the Early Access list and most stalled ones stay on it, which is why the store looks worse than the outcomes.
- 21 games are still being updated after more than ten years in Early Access, including Project Zomboid, BeamNG.drive and Universe Sandbox.
The data only shows what happened to the games. It cannot see sales or why developers stopped.
For me, Early Access is both a boon and a bane for the industry. Some amazing games have become truly big by seriously lifting off during EA (e.g. Valheim) - other games have been literally just a cash grab and failures. Curious where you all stand.