The Best Open-World Games That Left Steam Early Access

Steam’s Early Access system is a useful development model for game devs, as it lets them grant players access to their titles while they’re being actively worked on. It allows developers to more easily interact and respond to community feedback, fixing bugs or changing core game mechanics based on fan feedback. Not only that, it also helps smaller studios fund their games when they may not have otherwise made it to launch.

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8 Games That Made The Best Use Of Early Access

Early access is a valuable tool for crafting a game around community feedback, and these excellent games made the best out of early access feedback.

Although there are many horror stories among the gaming community about Early Access titles being abandoned and left to rot, there are just as many success stories, too. A lot of these games that make it out of Early Access invite players to expansive open worlds, where players can get lost for hours as they explore new and unique locations.

10

ARK: Survival Evolved

Surviving A Dino-Infested Island

Released

August 29, 2017

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood, Crude Humor, Use of Alcohol, Violence

• Early Access Release: June 2, 2015
• Full Release: August 29, 2017

Studio Wildcard’s ARK: Survival Evolved sees players fighting for survival on islands dominated by dinosaurs and fantastical creatures. The game was an immediate hit when it launched into Early Access back in 2015, largely thanks to its core dinosaur taming mechanic.

From a lowly Lystrosaurus to titans like Giganotosaurus, players can befriend a wide range of creatures on the game’s islands. Each dinosaur typically comes with a special perk, like the Doedicurus’ ability to collect stone better than its peers, incentivizing players to maintain a ranch of diverse dinosaurs.

9

Rust

PvP Open-World Warfare

Released

February 8, 2018

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Violence

• Early Access Release: December 11, 2013
• Full Release: February 8, 2018

Facepunch Studios’ Rust is notorious for its brutal survival gameplay. Players are dropped into procedurally generated worlds with nothing but the clothes—or rather, skin—on their backs, and they have to contend with nature, hostile NPCs, and other players to survive.

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With a heavy focus on PvP combat, the game’s greatest threat is, without a doubt, the fellow player. Those joining servers alone need to be good at making friends or hiding, as the lone wolf experience is a surefire way to get raided.

8

The Long Dark

Man Versus Nature

Released

August 1, 2017

ESRB

T For Teen due to Blood, Language, Violence

• Early Access Release: September 22, 2014
• Full Release: August 1, 2017

Hinterland Studios’ The Long Dark is unique when compared to other open-world survival games, as it does away with supernatural elements like zombies and monsters. Instead, after a geomagnetic disaster, the game places players in the Canadian wilderness where they’re pitted against nature itself.

The world of The Long Dark is bleak and cold but rendered in a beautiful impressionist art style. Players can choose to trek through its icy landscape in a sandbox survival mode or experience its episodic story mode, called Wintermute.

7

Raft

Sailing Across The Ocean

Systems

Released

June 20, 2022

ESRB

t

• Early Access Release: May 23, 2018
• Full Release: June 20, 2022

Redbeet Interactive’s Raft is a little more barren compared to other open-world titles, mostly because it places players in the middle of the ocean. Floating on a ramshackle raft, players must scavenge their supplies from floating debris while avoiding man-eating sharks and other open-water threats.

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Most open-world games allow players to explore across a wide variety of lands, but few try to expand upon the oceans and let players explore there.

Despite the game’s oceanic setting, Raft‘s world is the furthest thing from empty. Players are able to discover islands and the remains of civilization, as well as dive beneath the ocean’s surface to discover further supplies, stronger enemies, and secrets.

6

Kenshi

Be Who You Want

Systems

Released

December 6, 2018

ESRB

nr

• Early Access Release: March 20, 2013
• Full Release: December 6, 2018

With a map “stretching over 870 square kilometers,” Lo-Fi Games’ Kenshi places players in one of gaming’s largest sandboxes. No one is the chosen one in this setting, so in order to survive in Kenshi‘s expansive world, players must work for it.

Fortunately, the game provides players with an impressive amount of agency, allowing them to forge their own path. Forming squads in RTS-style gameplay, players can travel across the land as a simple trader or wreak havoc as a warlord. Nothing is off the table in Kenshi.

5

The Forest

Cannibal Island

Systems

Released

April 30, 2018

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity

• Early Access Release: May 30, 2014
• Full Release: April 30, 2018

After their plane crashes and their son is ripped from their arms, players find themselves trapped on an island populated by cannibals and mutants in Endnight Games’ The Forest. With no linear structure guiding them forward, players are free to go where they want and do what they want on the island.

Whether players choose to find their missing son or not, they’ll have to gather resources and build a base to defend themselves against the island’s cannibals, who grow increasingly aggressive with each passing day. Dotted around the island are caves that, while dangerous, are filled with resources and tools players will need to extend their stay on their cannibalistic getaway.

4

Don’t Starve Together

Survive Randomly Generated Worlds

Released

December 15, 2014

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Fantasy Violence, Crude Humor

• Early Access Release: December 15, 2014
• Full Release: April 21, 2016

Klei Entertainment expanded on their classic single-player survival experience with the release of Don’t Starve Together, a sequel of sorts to Don’t Starve that introduced multiplayer to the series.

Braving the series’ supernatural wilderness with friends immediately enriched the experience. Players could now do everything together, from farming to fighting bosses. Don’t Starve Together‘s various playable characters also allowed fans to maximize their efficiency by selecting characters with abilities that complement each other.

3

The Planet Crafter

Terraforming Planets

Systems

• Early Access Release: March 24, 2022
• Full Release: April 10, 2024

Miju Games’ The Planet Crafter is a relatively laid-back experience where players are tasked with terraforming a barren planet into a verdant and hospitable paradise.

By scavenging resources, players are able to build machines that will inject life into the planet. Seed spreaders will encourage plant growth around them, giant drills will release gases from the ground that alter atmospheric pressure, and so on. Gradually, players can watch entire biomes form and new species of animals emerge, all before their eyes.

2

Slime Rancher

Slime Planet

Released

August 1, 2017

ESRB

E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence

• Early Access Release: January 14, 2016
• Full Release: August 1, 2017

In Monomi Park’s Slime Rancher, players assume the role of Beatrix LeBeau as she sets out to create a slime ranch on the Far, Far Range. Throughout Slime Rancher‘s sandbox, players will come across slimes, cute amorphous blobs that come in a wide variety of types.

From simple Pink Slimes to destructive Boom Slimes, players can populate their ranch with all sorts of creatures that can then be used to make largo slimes, which are hybrids of two normal slimes. Between wrangling cute critters, players can also explore Slime Rancher‘s world to uncover secrets and goodies to help them along their journey.

1

Subnautica

Exploring A Thalassophobia Simulator

Survival

Horror

Open-World

Science Fiction

Released

January 23, 2018

ESRB

E10+ for Everyone 10+: Fantasy Violence, Mild Language

• Early Access Release: December 16, 2014
• Full Release: January 23, 2018

Unknown Worlds Entertainment’s Subnautica can either be a wondrous adventure or pure nightmare fuel, depending on the player. That is because the game is set in the vast ocean of an alien planet, where players will have to explore the depths to figure out why they crash-landed there.

Ignoring the fact that wading about in the middle of the ocean can be terrifying in itself, Subnautica‘s waters are also populated by enormous leviathans that won’t hesitate to attack the player. With the game featuring no real combat system, players will need to learn how to avoid these giants in order to survive.

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8 Best Early Access RPGs On Steam, Ranked

The following role-playing games on Steam are well with playing, even in their unfinished states.