When you click on an early access game on Steam, you might see a new note that could give an idea whether its developer has already abandoned the project. As SteamDB first reported, Steam has started adding notes on games’ official pages if they haven’t been updated in a while.
Steam’s early access program allows you to purchase work-in-progress titles to play on your PC. Each participating title has an information box, where developers answer questions, such as how long they expect the game to be in early access. That’s where you can find the new warning, which tells you when a title was last updated. Not every game has a note that tells you when its last update was rolled out, though. Valve told PCGamer that it will only add the notice for an early access game if it hasn’t been updated for a year.
Specifically, the note will show up if it’s been 12 months since a new build has been added to the game’s default branch in Steamworks, or if it’s been 12 months since the developer has notified players about an “update type event,” which includes major updates, regular updates and patch notes. In the end, it’s still up to you whether you want to download and play a game that hasn’t had a recent update. But the warning could help you avoid projects that are pretty much dead if you don’t want to waste your time and money on games that may never be fully released.