Steam now warns of software corpses
Valve warns against Early Access games that have not been updated for some time. However, the worst software corpses are no longer available in the German store.
(Image: Rokas Tenys/Shutterstock.com)
“Note: The last update from the developers was more than 2 years ago.” Valve is now warning users on its Steam gaming platform about Early Access titles that have not received any updates for some time. “The information and schedule provided here by the developers may no longer be current,” it continues.
The warning was discovered by the unofficial Steam tracker SteamDB. It appears to be activated for Early Access games that have not been updated for more than a year. Early Access is a development format in which a studio releases early and unfinished versions of its game to generate revenue and involve the community in development. Linked to this is the expectation that the game will be actively developed and regularly updated with new features until it is “finished” at some point. This worked extremely well with “Baldur's Gate 3” and “Satisfactory”, for example.
Warning against software corpses
Other studios take their update promise less seriously or simply fail during development. If an Early Access game is not provided with updates over a longer period of time, it is likely that the developer has absconded. The new warning is intended to prevent users from buying such software corpses in the hope that the game will continue to be actively improved.
(Image:Â Screenshot heise online)
Detailed update information is available on Steam pages further down under the menu item“"Show update history”. There you can see exactly when patches were last released for each game. The new warning notice makes this information quicker and easier to see.
Videos by heise
On social media, users are now having fun trying to find the Early Access game that has not been updated for the longest time. However, most of the games mentioned cannot be found in the German store. This is because Valve removed all games without an age rating from the store in Germany last year. Most developers of particularly old abandonware on Steam have obviously never bothered with an age rating for their game – Accordingly, many game corpses were completely removed from the store in Germany in November.
(dahe)
