(Image credit: Apocalypse Studios)

"AAA publishers are abusing early access, skewing player expectations in such a way that it heavily disadvantages smaller independent developers."

Denis Dyack, known for his work on games including Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, says big game developers are "abusing early access" by using it as a marketing tool for highly polished games that are ready for full release anyway. That, Dyack believes, has shifted expectations for early access releases overall, and made life more difficult for indie developers who rely on the process to actually get their games finished and launched.

"They can put up a polished product and rake in cash," Dyack told GamesIndustry . "It's a marketing beat for them.…