The general notion of purchasing and playing a game entails that the particular title has been developed and released for distribution. Imagine having the ability to play games while they were still under development? Today Valve announced Steam Early Access, which allows gamers to get their hands on, and offer feedback, on titles that are being developed. The Early Access program is starting with 12 titles on board, the number is likely to go up in the near future as the program gains more popularity. The under development games aren’t just sophisticated trial versions, they’re very much the real deal and evolve with the feedback of Steam Early Access users.
Just to be clear, providing feedback or writing guides is not compulsory. One can use Early Access just to play games that are still being developed. There’s a lot of flexibility for developers as well. They can increase the price of the game as development goes on, initially the price can be set low to entice new players to purchase their games. The release of new games is ultimately up to the developers. Out of the 12 titles available, one is for free and the others are priced up to $32.