Steam’s Early Access section has enjoyed a highly successful first year. The release of a slew of top-sellers such as Rust, Starbound, Kerbal Space Program and DayZ in such a short space of time has cemented the process as a mainstay for Indie developers looking to earn a bit of cash, attention and feedback before the full release of their game. However, despite the sales figures and the 140-strong titles already using the system, Early Access is not without its naysayers.
SteamFirst: I always imagined a space race would be something exciting like the movies Armageddon or Apollo 13. But I suspect the actual business end is just as dull and unfulfilling as the movies Armageddon or Apollo 13. Hopefully, Race To Mars, Intermarum’s first space industry managment simulator will eventually change my mind.
Liam Lambert, GIZORAMA - Steam’s Early Access platform has come under a fair amount of criticism as of late. Many consumers believe that Early Access merely sells a promise; an assurance from indie developers that a game will be good at some point, just not yet. I’ve played a few Early Access games and enjoyed watching them blossom into fully fledged games, but all of these at least had something for me to sink my teeth into from the get-go. They might have had stages, assets or elements missing, but generally there was some kind of core experience to tell me whether a game had promise or not (see Kenshi or Speedrunners).
Unfortunately, Race to Mars, a turn-based space company simulation game from Polish developers INTERMARUM, is no such game. In fact, Race to Mars is in such an “early” form of Early Access, that I might as well have been playing a developer meeting mind map."
Whether you love it or hate it, Kickstarter has given many small game developers the opportunity to realize an idea and bring it to life. One such developer is Intermarum, who is looking to raise $45,786 (£30,000) to further develop their game Race To Mars.
