Steam’s Early Access system started as a way for developers to introduce their games to the community and help fund development while simultaneously gathering community feedback, but it has become somewhat of a joke, given how long some games stay in early access. With Steam’s latest update, the gaming platform is hoping to bring some transparency to the system with a clearly labelled date for when the developer plans to move from early access to the full 1.0 launch. Previously, it was fairly standard practice for developers to announce the planned release date in a news post that would inevitably be hidden after a few weeks if updates were frequent enough; adding this field is a standardized way to let gamers know when to expect the full release of a game they may be interested in.
This will also increase visibility and discoverability of these 1.0 launches, with the 1.0 launch dates automatically appearing in gamers’ Steam personal calendars when they wishlist or follow a game that is in early access. Developers can add a vague time frame—like just the year—or a specific date to their 1.0 launch information, and, at least at the time of writing, the 1.0 release date is entirely optional. This still allows flexibility for smaller developers who aren’t necessarily experienced enough to know when the 1.0 launch will happen while giving those who want to inform their player base the option to do so.