Support us on Patreon to keep GamingOnLinux alive. This ensures all of our main content remains free for everyone. Just good, fresh content! Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal. You can also buy games using our partner links for GOG and Humble Store.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

With more and more AAA publishers putting up special editions of games you can pay extra for, to play a few days before the main release, Valve has formally made "Advanced Access" a thing on Steam.

You know the drill, you've seen it right? "Buy the Deluxe Edition or the Special Edition, and you get to play 3 days before everyone else!" something to that effect anyway. Publishers have been using all sorts of naming and wording for it — until now. On top of Valve adjusting the refund rules recently, this whole Advanced Access thing is now, well — an actual thing on Steam.

Noticed by SteamDB creator Pavel Djundik on TopSpin 2K25 you'll see this for example:

Seems like Valve did a bit of a woops there though. The Learn more link actually goes to the Early Access info page instead of the new Advanced Access page. I'm sure they'll fix that soon though.

At least according to the Advanced Access page, it seems the feature is open to any developer to do this. As Valve say "Games by default will not include an Advanced Access pre-purchase option. This will be setup at the discretion of the developer/publisher creating and selling their products.". So it's not reserved for AAA.

With this getting promoted to be a proper official Steam feature, it's no surprise then to see them going over some of their rules like refunds to ensure people aren't gaming it by playing as much as possible before "release" (what does release even really mean now?) to refund it.

How do you feel about Advanced Access?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc, Steam, Valve
12 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
See more from me
35 comments
Page: «2/4»
  Go to:

Lofty Apr 24
Quoting: finaldest
Quoting: Lofty
Quoting: finaldestI am done with this crap.

I am fed up of this complete utter greed. First we lost physical releases along with publishers destroying games preservation. Now they want even more money by charging £100+ for a broken PC game and now I am required to give yet more money to play the game on release day (AKA On time)

I am done. After 20 years I am now going back to the high seas.

i mean, yes and no. You don't have to play these overpriced "AAA" garbage titles, with terrible pricing, optimization, forced agenda's, Scam DLC, Malware DRM. There are hundreds of smaller dev's who would want your support, and of course a long back catalogue of existing games that can be modded. Then there are Retro games of which are still highly enjoyable and again can be emulated to look great.

But i do agree with the sentiment that until people change their buying practices non of this is going to change. And that applies to everything not just video games.

I will continue to support indy devs but I am now done with AAA publisher that implements this.

I am very disappointed that valve implemented this feature.

I don't blame you and i agree. My point was also why even bother pirating it even if it's free ? your still giving a shitty group of people your time and energy.
kuhpunkt Apr 24
"How do you feel about Advanced Access?"

I think it's utter crap. If the game is finished and ready for release... release it.
Eike Apr 24
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: finaldestI am very disappointed that valve implemented this feature.

They are only making visible what's already happening. And we can't expect them to somehow stop it.
ToddL Apr 24
As confusing as the name sounds, I'm not inclined to give my money for early access to any game since they always come out broken anyways

At this rate, you might as well wait awhile for a sale if you have the patience since you'll save a lot of money in the long run and most of the issues from the early release will get fixed. Worse case scenario is the developer abandons it and you're stuck with a broken game that you could refund from Steam or any other third party seller unless you wait too long to go through the process, then you're pretty much SOL.


Last edited by ToddL on 25 April 2024 at 6:38 am UTC
finaldest Apr 24
Quoting: Lofty
Quoting: finaldest
Quoting: Lofty
Quoting: finaldestI am done with this crap.

I am fed up of this complete utter greed. First we lost physical releases along with publishers destroying games preservation. Now they want even more money by charging £100+ for a broken PC game and now I am required to give yet more money to play the game on release day (AKA On time)

I am done. After 20 years I am now going back to the high seas.

i mean, yes and no. You don't have to play these overpriced "AAA" garbage titles, with terrible pricing, optimization, forced agenda's, Scam DLC, Malware DRM. There are hundreds of smaller dev's who would want your support, and of course a long back catalogue of existing games that can be modded. Then there are Retro games of which are still highly enjoyable and again can be emulated to look great.

But i do agree with the sentiment that until people change their buying practices non of this is going to change. And that applies to everything not just video games.

I will continue to support indy devs but I am now done with AAA publisher that implements this.

I am very disappointed that valve implemented this feature.

I don't blame you and i agree. My point was also why even bother pirating it even if it's free ? your still giving a shitty group of people your time and energy.

You know what, You are right.

Sailing High seas not worth it as its just too much hassle.

I will just boycott instead. Ubisoft and EA in particular.

I will give GOG another look though.


Last edited by finaldest on 24 April 2024 at 2:18 pm UTC
finaldest Apr 24
Quoting: Eike
Quoting: finaldestI am very disappointed that valve implemented this feature.

They are only making visible what's already happening. And we can't expect them to somehow stop it.


The Problem is that now VALVE has an official implementation the floodgates are now open.

One of the first publishers to use this will no doubt be Paradox Interactive.
Oktoras Apr 24
Patient gamer is a thing...
I am all for it. Don't get me wrong. I won't be paying for this ever, but I don't mind developers having the ability to do this.

Valve serves two markets. Developers/publishers and consumers. This is most likely a request from publishers, who might then otherwise have released the game somewhere else. If this ensures that some games stay on Steam, I say go for it.

I say let free market forces dictate whether it is a feature that will stay or not. If people are getting burnt or don't feel the value is there, publishers will be hesitant to use the feature. After all it's also a way to get advanced negative reviews.

I can't say whether people who buy advanced access would be more critical of the purchase because of the higher price or less critical because they wanted early access in the first place.


Last edited by MasterSleort on 24 April 2024 at 3:06 pm UTC
Dana Souly Apr 24
"How do you feel about Advanced Access?"

I don't think I'll pay for AA.
In the past I've bought physical copies with merch or extras, that's money worth investing if I think I'll like the game.
But not for time, virtual goods or p2w options. (I wouldn't buy games with p2w either)
CatKiller Apr 24
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
QuoteHow do you feel about Advanced Access?

It's something that I'll never ever use - particularly with the current trends of the release state of games - but if publishers feel that they really have to use FOMO to squeeze more money out of whales then a limited-scope upfront charge is way better than, say, getting people hooked on gambling.

Of course having a game release in a good state for a reasonable price - with a free demo for additional marketing reach - would be a much better outcome, but it can be difficult to get an industry to reverse its mistakes.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
Login / Register


Or login with...
Sign in with Steam Sign in with Google
Social logins require cookies to stay logged in.