After 4 years of development, the team behind a new indie game was excited to finally send their lovingly crafted project into Early Access. Everyone was ready – Steam unfortunately was not.
What mistake did the developers make? Yaldi Games, the developers of the new relaxing cozy game “Out and About”, intended to launch in Early Access yesterday, on August 7, 2025. They had been working on their first game for years and had already attracted a lot of players who were looking forward to the game’s release.
However, instead of releasing, the studio issued a message on Steam: “Hello everyone, we are very sorry, but we cannot release today. We simply cannot press the button. It’s gone.”
The team explains that they unfortunately forgot to check the box for “Early Access” until the morning of the planned release. Once this is checked, Steam initiates a review phase, which is a normal procedure of the site. However, this is starting at an “inopportune” time.
Because during this time, the aforementioned button disappears – along with it the trigger for the release.
Here you can see the trailer for “Out and About” by Yaldi Games, which will now be delayed by a few days:
“The release button is gone. Literally.”
How are the developers handling the mistake? Yaldi Games wrote in their message to the community that they are very sorry about the entire situation. Since this is their first game and they have not yet gathered the necessary experience, they did not check the box for Early Access and delayed the entire release with their delay.
They have tried to contact Steam, but they are not very optimistic that their game and its review phase could somehow be expedited to ensure an earlier release for the waiting players.
One of the developers also posted on TikTok with a message to the community:
“I am still a bit in shock, I think. […] You were all so excited, some of you were looking forward to playing it on your birthday. Happy Birthday! I am so sorry. […] This is because this is our first game and we didn’t know better.”
How is the community reacting? The waiting players are very understanding and can relate that mistakes can happen. Some people found out about the team’s game because of the video on TikTok:
- steffixilef: “Well, I think this helped me find the game :D”
- Cozy Tea Games: “I am so sorry, guys! This must have really taken the wind out of your sails. We are all still very excited about the release, and a few days in the grand scheme of things won’t matter much.”
- Chocmoojoo: “Having already released on Steam, I feel this deeply in my soul. Hopefully it works out on Monday for all of you!”
- Wonder Croshet: “We have been waiting excitedly for this game for years, so we can certainly wait a little longer.”
- Kore: “Oopsies happen, but the wait will be worth it. We will be there!”
We are keeping our fingers crossed for the team at Yaldi Games that their game gets through Steam’s review phase quickly and that players can finally play their long-awaited cozy game. Although we at MeinMMO like to talk about MMORPGs, cozy games might not be so different from our namesake genre. During the grindfest, MeinMMO author Cedric put more thought into the topic: Cozy games are the better MMORPGs and I almost believe it too
