Last I checked they had an ecosystem that any developer would kill to have. A closed off pool of players who are all loyal. Everyone I’ve talked to that has gotten to play it has defended it. So it obviously has something going. I think most people just expected a normal release and it seems to have morphed into a different business model?
As an Early Access, it has a LOT of jank; but it’s unlike anything else that has ever existed. It really is a no-compromises, persistent, open, seamless sci-fi universe. It gets massive updates every 3 months, and those updates have been getting gradually bigger and more meaningful over the last 2 years. We’ve seen huge amounts of progress, so the developers are actually delivering. And regardless of how you feel about their business model as an outsider, it’s successfully ensuring that progress can continue in perpetuity, which is exactly what all of us regular players want.
I skipped the original Kickstarter because even the smaller scope of that pitch seemed impossible on the budget they were asking. Then I watched the project for years as it seemed like it was falling apart. I didn’t actually buy in until they showed off planet tech, and it was obvious that (1) they had finally gotten their development problems fixed and (2) their business model was capable of funding the project indefinitely (no matter how long it took to realize the vision). As of now, I have well over 1,000 hours in the game… probably more than anything else I’ve ever played.
