Thomas Mahler, the CEO of No Rest for the Wicked developer Moon Studios, has come out swinging in favor of Early Access, describing it as “one of the best decisions” his studio ever made.
In a rather lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter), Mahler says that No Rest for the Wicked would likely never have been shipped if it weren’t for Early Access and the chance it provides to see user data and feedback.
Mahler goes on to say that having increased staff numbers wouldn’t have helped, either; No Rest for the Wicked is “just way too complex of a beast” not to have been released in Early Access prior to a full launch.
In the post, Mahler says that if From Software’s legendary action RPG Dark Souls had been shipped in Early Access, it would have benefited from the extra polish and wouldn’t have been launched as “a boxed product in a somewhat unfinished state”.
He points specifically to Lost Izalith, which is often considered one of the most underwhelming areas of the original Dark Souls thanks to bosses and level elements many players consider to be unfinished. Nobody’s out here batting for Bed of Chaos, that’s for sure.
In a followup post, Mahler further exhorts Sony and Nintendo to embrace the Early Access model as well, claiming that the industry is changing “at a rapid pace” and that holding onto norms from five to ten years ago is “too restrictive”.
Mahler’s comments come after No Rest for the Wicked, the latest game from Ori and the Will of the Wisps developer Moon Studios, launched to a somewhat ambivalent reception on Steam last week.
In negative reviews for the game, players complained about what they perceived to be performance issues, a lack of content, and strange design decisions on the part of the developer.
Since launch, however, No Rest for the Wicked has managed to reach a Mostly Positive rating, with recent reviews praising Moon Studios for releasing new patches quickly and diligently.
You can check out No Rest for the Wicked on PC via Steam Early Access right now. Why not give it a shot and see if it makes you agree with Mahler’s comments about Early Access development?
