Yeah except that Dwarf Fortress was a complete game for years and free. Under the hood it’s the same game, it only costs money now if you’re getting the better graphics and music added.

In my mind Early Access is for games that are so close to completion that they can ask for money and withstand criticism.

It should go:

• Alpha (closed or open)
• Beta (closed and/or open)
• Early Access
• Full Release

If your game suffers in Early Access then it likely means your game wasn’t ready for Early Access. Too often a game that should still be in Closed Alpha or Closed Beta is thrown up on Steam as Early Access. If you’re gonna do that then you have to take the criticism as well.