This article was originally published on March 20, 2026 - read the full issue

By Niall O'Donoghue

Working out when to launch your game is a deceptively tricky question, one which has been the subject of much spilled ink (think the releases of Hollow Knight: Silksong or the looming juggernaut that is Grand Theft Auto VI). Capturing your audience's attention is one thing for a traditional release, but what about early access titles? You need to make a statement with your initial launch, but you also need to maintain that momentum over the course of myriad updates, before finally reintroducing yourself to the world as a fully fledged title.

As VP of operations at Obsidian, Marcus Morgan has extensive experience mulling over release-date strategy for more traditionally published titles, but found himself in relatively uncharted territory upon the release of survival sandbox title Grounded into early access in 2020. Morgan freely admits that Grounded was released in a "test-and-learn" environment, a decision governed by a gut feeling as much as it was by extensive internal playtesting. However, Obsidian was adamant that Grounded should feel fully formed in Early Access, an ethos the studio maintained for the recent release of sequel Grounded 2. "If someone only ever played this version of the game, they should feel like they had a complete experience," Morgan elaborates. "Players are starting to expect a lot more polish, fewer bugs, and better optimisation from day one."

Building a roadmap

While the initial launch of Early Access games can bear a close resemblance to more traditional game launches, Morgan stresses the importance of moving quickly, rather than the more measured rollouts which accompany titles such as The Outer Worlds 2. Grounded 2 featured prominently in last year's Xbox Games Showcase, for example, launching into early access within two months of its public debut. "That was really important, to keep that window short, so it felt exciting and fresh as we went through early access, as opposed to wasting a lot of that energy and excitement," Morgan explains.

Larger updates for the Grounded series are rolled out in a similar fashion to full-throated game launches, complete with key art, bespoke trailers, and developer deep dives. For Morgan, each major update serves as an opportunity to draw in new players and also to coax back those who have played through existing content. "We try to treat [each update] with the same level of fervour, just to make sure people know what they should be excited about," he explains. "Everything has to ramp up, and I think that practice is super helpful to make sure your 1.0 goes really smooth."

Morgan also emphasises the importance of having a clear roadmap for development, both as a means for Obsidian to hold itself accountable and as a way to build trust. "Players just want to know what's happening," he says. "That level of two-way communication is really valuable. The more we did that in Grounded, the more engaged the community was."

Not that Obsidian is beholden to strict dates and deadlines. "This is the beauty of being in early access," Morgan says, noting how Obsidian has adjusted timing on major updates for the Grounded series to coincide with lulls in the release calendar, particularly in the summer. "I don't want to launch at the same time GTAVI is going to launch. Because I'm in early access and I have more flexibility, I probably should try to pull up or push back an update so that more people are interested in playing."

Flying the nest

With sandboxes as open-ended as Brookhollow Park, we're curious how Obsidian determines when the time is right to draw a line in the sand and leave early access. For Morgan, such a decision is as much of an art as it is science. Certain deliverables are set in stone, such as gaps in the world map, but community feedback introduces variability.

"Maybe somebody has some great idea that we need to capitalise on that makes the game better: that's the point of early access," he says. The decision to launch, however, is rooted in more fundamental principles. "What was our vision from the beginning? What story did we want to tell and what experience did we want to deliver? When we can deliver that, that's when it's 1.0."

For Morgan, meeting player expectations during early access and building up a healthy community proved crucial for the eventual launch of Grounded in 2022, and will serve as template for the studio's approach with its sequel.

"You don't have to work quite as hard to capture everyone's attention, because the community is excited to go talk about that with their friends and capture it for you," he notes. "What's more important is that you kept building that cohort of people who were satisfied and wanted to share it."

This article was originally published on March 20, 2026 - read the full issue