That’s the entire point of the Early Access tag though, it’s a tag that states “hey this is still in its early development stages and is not a final product” it even states that the game might not be finished. I can understand why some might see the term Early Access and think that it means that it’s a game that is going to be finished eventually, but under the description of the tag it’s not an obligation and it would be stupid as a game developer to throw money towards something that you know isn’t going to take off or that you’ve lost passion for.
I would say they should change the name of the tag to be something that better clarifies it, but honestly I can’t think of a better term because it’s right it’s early access the only alternative I can think of is maybe early development to remove people thinking that it’s just paying to get access to the game early.
As a counter argument to the good faith argument, I personally don’t think it’s within good faith to buy an early access game with the expectation that it’s going to be finished, I’m not sure how much clearer Steam and the development team can make it regarding that the future of the game is uncertain. I for one avoid Early Access games until I can see the reviews and see whether or not it’s worth getting (or if I am super interested) and if I see the game reviews stating the game is Dead Or there’s nothing on the devlog I skip it and go to the next game.
Don’t take me wrong I’m not saying that developers should keep their game permanently in early access, however I don’t see a problem with the Early Access tag being used to illustrate at the game is still in early development, and if the tag itself didn’t say the game may or may not be finished I would even Advocate that if in Early Access game gets canceled they should give refunds.