Steam Early Access study: data dictionary
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One row per Steam game that ever entered Early Access and could be dated (23,247 games). Store data
as of 26 September 2026. Steam's notes were read on 1-2 October 2026, news posts between 26
September and 3 October 2026 (counted up to 1 October), and removed games were checked between 30
September and 3 October 2026. Rows are sorted by Steam review count, highest first. Free to use with
a link to the study. Corrections: editorial@gamerofpassion.com.

appid
    Steam app id

name
    Game name on Steam (for games removed from sale: the name in archived Steam app lists). Two
    names start with + or -, so import this column as text in a spreadsheet

steam_url
    Steam store page link (for removed games it may open the Steam home page instead)

status
    Where the game stood on 26 September 2026. Values: "Reached 1.0" · "Reached 1.0, later
    removed from sale" · "In Early Access, updated recently": newest update post under 6 months
    old (exceptions below) · "In Early Access, last update 6-12 months ago" · "In Early Access,
    no update for 12+ months (Steam note)": Steam's own note is on the store page · "In Early
    Access, no update post for 12+ months": 7 games whose store page no longer showed the Early
    Access section on 1-2 October 2026, so Steam's note could not be read. They are counted by
    their Steam posts instead · "Removed from sale while in Early Access" · "In Early Access,
    under a year (too new for the 12-month check)". Exceptions: 65 games have no Steam note but
    also no update post from the last 12 months. For these the status uses the newest Steam post
    of any kind, because the missing note means Steam saw an update in the last 12 months.
    Update ages are counted from 1 October 2026

entered_early_access
    Date the game entered Steam Early Access

entry_date_basis
    "Steam store date", or "Estimated from first reviews" for games Steam stores no Early Access
    date for. The estimate is accurate to about a week for games with 10+ reviews, less for very
    small games

reached_1_0
    Date of the full (1.0) release, empty if none

reached_1_0_basis
    "Steam store date", or "Estimated from reviews" (games later removed from sale: the date
    Steam reviews stop being marked as written during Early Access). Empty when the game has not
    reached 1.0

years_in_early_access
    Years from entering Early Access to 1.0, or to 26 September 2026 for games still in Early
    Access, one decimal. Rounded, so it is too coarse to rebuild the year bands in the article:
    use entered_early_access and 26 September 2026 instead. Empty for games removed from sale
    while in Early Access (removal date unknown)

steam_no_update_note
    Steam's own note on the store page, e.g. "over 2 years" from "The last update made by the
    developers was over 2 years ago". Steam shows it when no new build has gone to the main
    branch for 12+ months, or when no update post has gone out for 12+ months (either is enough,
    per Steamworks: partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/earlyaccess). Games that update only on a
    beta branch can carry the note while still in development. Empty = no note. Steam's note and
    last_update_post can disagree: last_update_post is picked out by post type or title, while
    Steam uses its own record of update builds and update posts, so a post counted here can be
    one Steam does not count (184 games still in Early Access with the note have an update post
    dated 1 October 2025 or later). For games still for sale, the status follows Steam's note.
    Some games removed from sale still show the note because their page can still be reached.
    "over a year" comes from another wording of the same note ("have not communicated any
    updates for over a year")

last_update_post
    Newest Steam post that counts as an update: posts marked as patch notes or update posts, or
    posts with an update-like title. Counted up to 1 October 2026. Empty = no such post found

last_news_post
    Newest Steam announcement of any kind

steam_reviews
    Steam review count on 26 September 2026, as shown by the store. For games removed from sale
    it is the total from Steam's review data (all languages and purchase types), which typically
    runs 10-20% higher than the store count

in_headline_numbers
    yes = in the study's headline numbers (10+ reviews, entered Early Access 2013-2023)

store_page
    "For sale" · "Not for sale (page still reachable)": the page can still be opened by direct
    link · "Visible, cannot be bought": the store page is visible, but the game is not in
    Steam's list of games for sale · "Store page removed"

update_post_3_to_15_months_after_1_0
    yes / no: any update post between 3 and 15 months after 1.0. Counts posts only, so a
    developer who patches without posting shows as "no". Some games need no more updates after
    1.0, so "no" says nothing about a game's quality. Empty = no 1.0, 1.0 after early July 2025
    (window not over yet), or not enough post data for that window

data_caveat
    Data caveats for this row: "Removal date unknown" · "Some update data missing (Steam error)"
    · "Store page no longer showed Early Access on 1-2 Oct 2026 (may have reached 1.0 after the
    snapshot)". Two caveats are joined with a full stop

Not included: games that spent under a day in Early Access, games that could not be dated, DLC and
beta app ids, and 11 games that look removed from the US store but are most likely still sold
elsewhere. Games removed from sale are found through archived Steam app lists, so their count is a
minimum. Full method: on the study page at gamerofpassion.com.