The trend of Early Access games on Steam has exploded in the last year or so. By allowing customers to purchase a game well before it is finished, developers and publishers get to line their coffers to fund the development process, test ideas, and receive immediate feedback from their prospective user base. The customers then get to see the game evolve as features are added, textures updated, and bugs squashed. While gamers may be split on whether this is beneficial for all parties, or can lead to dead-in-the-water games that leave a sour taste in your mouth, it shows no signs of slowing down. Tapping into the trend, newly created development studio Octagon Interactive has put their game Beasts of Prey into Early Access.
