Expensive, Early Access Releases Are Big Business for Publishers

Dual release dates paying dividends.

It’s the latest craze: games no longer have one single, defined release date – they have at least two of them. In the case of Battlefield V – which is available today for some people, was available last week for others, and will be available next week for any remaining peasants – they have four or more. And it’s something we’ve been concerned about: we talked about it with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which was available a few days earlier if you plumped up for the uber-expensive Gold Edition.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with these things, it’s working for publishers. Games Industry.biz reports that sales of expensive Special Editions – which are typically the versions that offer early access – are on the up, and more and more companies are beginning to pay attention. “ undoubtedly introduce early access versions after our next game,” it quotes ones mid-sized publisher as saying. “I expect dual release dates will only increase next year.”

Read the full article on pushsquare.com

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