Hades 2 developer Supergiant has offered some advice on how studios should approach launching the game into Steam Early Access.
Conversation with GamesRadarThe company's founder and creative director, Greg Kasavin, said timing your project's release into paid alpha is a tricky balance. A game should have enough content to make it worth purchasing, but not so much that you can't make changes to its design.
“Deciding when to launch a game in early access is an important decision for the developer,” Kasavin explained.
“You want your game to get far enough that it can be played and enjoyed without too many caveats, but you don't want your game to get so far that you don't have time to respond to all the feedback you get.”
Kasavin continued by stating that Hades 2 is “designed to be developed in Early Access” just like the original Hades.
“[It's] a game where listening to and responding to player feedback will be at the core of the development process,” he said.
Hades 2 was announced back at The Game Awards in 2022. along with Death Stranding 2 and Armored Core 6. The project was eventually released into Early Access in May 2024 before exit from alpha scheme in September 2025.
Since release, Hades 2 was named the best computer game of 2025 according to Metacritic.beating out competitors such as Hollow Knight: Silksong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 2. The game peaked at 112,947 concurrent players on Steam.according to SteamDB. Hades 2 also won Best Action Game at The Game Awards 2025..
The original Hades was released in December 2020 after 22 months in Early Access. The game has sold over 1 million copies. and was first video game to win a Hugo Award in 2021.
