7 Days to Die is one of those games that appears repeatedly in lists of zombie games, scary titles, “spooky” multiplayer games… in short, it’s a game that enjoys some popularity, good reviews and a community that . in the case of some people they enjoy it for more than 10 years, well It was published by The Fun Pimps on Steam on December 3, 2013according to its file on the Valve store.

During these years, its developer (who is also its distributor) regularly publishes updates, improvements and new content that have served to keep the said community quite happy, to the point that the SteamDB ranking for it rises to an enviable 87.72%, a rating that many studios and distributors would be happy to pay. A perfect example, and we’ll delve into how to do things right below (with the notable exception of its first console port, which was rightfully “slammed” on Metacritic).

When 7 Days to Die was released in April 2013, it was in early access mode., you know, that mode where Steam lets you publish games that aren’t fully developed yet, but are playable. This mode allows developers to start recouping part of their investment and get a lot of feedback (if users decide to buy it, of course), and players to start enjoying it earlier, influence its development in some way and, usually, get it at a lower price than what it will look like after development is complete.

It’s normal for a game to come out in Early Access, It is not so important that he remains in the same position for more than 10 years. (almost 12 since the beginning of its development). Recently, we have seen notable cases like Larian with Baldur’s Gate 3, another example of doing things right, which remained in Early Access for almost three years (from October 2020 to August 2023). Three years, a trifle compared to 7 Days to Die.

So this is the end The Fun Pimps have announced the release of version 1.0 of 7 Days to Die and thus its exit from early access.. According to her plans, this update will take place in two stages, the final beta, which will be published at the end of May, and, if there are no surprises, the arrival of the final version during the month of June of the same year, i.e. , over several months (more days, less days, depending on the specific date).

But it doesn’t mean that the development study is finished and that 7 Days to Die will stay that way. On the contrary, as they revealed, They already have future updates-expansions plannedwith which they will provide additional content to the game and which in some cases will fulfill the commitments made by The Fun Pimps within the financial campaign implemented on Kickstarter to obtain the necessary funds to start development.

Time has taught us the hard way that if a studio takes all the time necessary to complete development, even if that means delays, betas that last forever, etc. we face a show of respect for the players and of course to their own development. I’ve already lost count (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) of the number of games that go on sale while they’re still very, very green, with all the ramifications that entails.

It seems to me that 7 Days to Die has remained in Early Access for over 10 years, an example that should be propagated in the development in which it is necessary. Now, by releasing it in this way, the developer has confirmed something that was expected, that its price will go up to what they think is appropriate for a good product, which also seems logical to me. And an unfinished product shouldn’t have the same price as a complete one, right?

I already mentioned Baldur’s Gate 3, but there are other examples of games that stay in early access for a long time. For example, and not to leave the horror genre, Phasmophobia comes next, another title with very lively development thanks to a very committed developer that has remained in early access since September 2020. Fortunately, this is a formula that seems to have become popular, from which they can to exploit in particular studios with limited resources, and this translates into real benefits for players. I hope the example will spread further.

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