Early Access Graduates in 2026: A Mid-Year Check-In

May 20, 2026 - 04:30

We are back with another look at how Steam Early Access games are performing after they hit version 1.0. Back in late 2025, we built some tools to track these graduates, but we wanted to see if any trends had shifted now that we are partway through 2026.

The data we are looking at covers paid games with more than 5,000 copies sold or free games with more than $10,000 in revenue during their first 30 days of Early Access. This keeps us from looking at weird outliers. So far in 2026, we tracked 91 games that graduated from Early Access. The median time they spent in Early Access was 1 year and 3 months, which is actually one month longer than in 2025. Only 21 percent of these games did better at their 1.0 launch in terms of revenue compared to their Early Access launch. That number was 20 percent in 2025, so it is very similar.

What is more interesting is looking at the specific titles that had the biggest 1.0 releases by raw revenue so far this year. There are a lot of strategy games in the mix, which makes sense. Games like Timberborn, Shapez 2, and Terra Invicta are expandable by nature, so they benefit from adding new features over time. Some of the outperformers are good games that got recognized late, like the clever roguelite Sol Cesto and the deep, complex The Last Starship. It is almost disappointing there was not more interest in them earlier.

One notable title is Soulmask, a China-made survival game that sits at the top of the list. It launched a $20 DLC alongside its 1.0 release, and we are including that revenue. It is a Conan Exiles-style survival game with some quirks that might inspire other developers.

There is a growing skepticism around Early Access these days. A lot of developers want to go into Early Access because their game is truly unfinished, but that is not what most buyers want in 2026. And there is no pot of gold waiting at 1.0 for most games. The best reason to do Early Access is if you can build the title successfully with the community and they will stick with you. Subnautica 2 seems to have gotten that right. But you have to remember that the surprise and virality of people playing your game for the first time can only happen once. You just have to decide when you want to push that button.