Steam's Early Access program allows developers to create their games while people are playing them . Ideally, the process directly involves the customer, allowing rough betas to evolve based on individual feedback. But according to a recent study, most games that begin in Early Access never release in full form.

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The overall popularity of the program and, in turn, the development model is increasing –– 255 Early Access titles released this year, as opposed to 103 in 2013, according to EEDAR 's Patrick Walker . That's a 147 percent increase, and the fact that 85 percent of all Early access titles are new IPs is promising for consumers and developers alike.But since the program's launch in early 2013, only 25 percent of its members have released as a complete game, according to EEDAR. Of the 9 betas that kicked off Early Access in March last year, 3 got a full release. Statistically, this means that any consumer opting into an Early Access title should not be banking on a full release down the road.Steam has taken action to stop selling Early Access games in limbo –– Stomping Ground, a dinosaur game, was removed from the program after developers failed to update players for months on end. Early Access is as much a deal for the developers as the customers, and the growing popularity suggests the program might not be going anywhere soon.

Mike Mahardy is a freelance journalist writing for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @mmahardy