8 Video Games You Didn't Realise Broke The Industry

7. Minecraft - Opened The Floodgates To Early Access

There's been a lot of controversy surrounding early access games over the last few years. Players who invest in early access titles do so with the risk that the game they're investing in may never be fully developed, while there've been repeat cases of early access titles amounting to little more than scams.

The practice itself isn't inherently good or bad, and for indie developers who don't have budgets to hire play-testers, having a title be early access can actually prove invaluable. It's a great feature to have when used appropriately, but there have been cases where games have stayed in early access for years on end. No less frustrating is the fact that big publishers have also dabbled in early access, offering players unique benefits while they effectively pay for the pleasure of play-testing a title.

Numerous games have adopted early access, but by far the most notable example was Minecraft. The game is beloved by (mostly) all and kickstarted gaming's early access obsession, opening the door not only for indie devs to secure greater funding and feedback for their projects, but sadly also to the prospect that players could be taken advantage of by a duplicitous studio or individual.

Some games have spent multiple years in early access, and it means some have effectively forked over their money to play something that'll never be finished.