A recent update to Steam allows developers to list a planned 1.0 release date for their Early Access games. While developers have always been free to share this information in blog posts or in the description on the store, in the past, they couldn’t flag a game’s planned release so clearly.

While this might seem like a small change, I’m thrilled to see it. Steam Early Access can be an excellent tool for developers, allowing them to put their game into players’ hands and earn money without waiting until it’s ready for a 1.0 release, but it can be a mixed bag for players.

In its best form, an Early Access game launches in a playable (if unfinished) state, it then receives a string of updates, before eventually ending in a full release. But there are many games that never make it all the way to 1.0. As much as a developer may wish to finish a game, if they run out of funds, they might choose to move onto another project entirely. There are more than a few Early Access games in my library that haven’t been added to in years, and I know the developers have either shut up shop or moved on to something else.

Before buying a game that’s in Early Access, I now find myself having to become a detective – checking for when it was last updated or seeing if the developer is working on another, more recent project. I don’t want to distrust the game maker, but I also don’t want to spend money on an unfinished game that will never see its final version.

While Valve’s latest update to Steam doesn’t change things radically – as I say, developers were free to write about the planned 1.0 release dates before, both on Steam and off it – it does make it a little easier when browsing games to see if a project is nearly finished or still a long way off. A developer could still blow through a release date or delay it, but this seems somehow more concrete and easier to hold a game maker accountable.

There is more to this change than first appears, too. As Valve say “Last year we introduced the Steam Personal Calendar, and realized one valuable kind of ‘release’ was missing from the UI: upcoming transitions from Early Access to 1.0. With an official 1.0 date display, we could give those transitions an official display in Personal Calendar, and help address the developer requests around formally showcasing the planned 1.0 release.”

This means that if you wishlist a game that’s in Early Access, it should now appear in your personal calendar when it’s near a 1.0 release. So, if you’re not keen on buying a game that’s in an open-ended Early Access state, but you’re happy to pick up a copy when you know it’s definitely coming out and near release, you can now do that more easily.

So, as I say, a small change, but a welcome one.