Steam’s secret Early Access rules expose a massive lack of regulation

Steam’s official Early Access developer rules have been revealed, and they outline some major problems with the platform.

PC Gamer recently obtained an official document outlining the rules governing Steam’s Early Access program.

The document is normally only available to Steam developers and lists the various restrictions imposed on developers using Steam’s Early Access program.

However, these restrictions are notably non-existent, with only this single rule explicitly regulating the practice:

Do not make specific promises about future events.

For example, there is no way you can know exactly when the game will be finished, that the game will be finished, or that planned future additions will definitely happen. Do not ask your customers to bet on the future of your game.

Customers should be buying your game based on its current state, not on promises of a future that may or may not be realized.

The rest of the document only provides guidance and advice to developers on how to market their title using Early Access.

The lack of control Steam has over Early Access titles has been portrayed through various controversial Early Access titles which have either never released or otherwise disappointed gamers.

One of the most important omissions from the Early Access Rules is a penalty for failure, as currently Early Access developers face no punishment for abandoning a project and the gamers who have invested in it.

You can find the entire document here, courtesy of PC Gamer.