Until now, Gamedle usually showed the first playable date, including betas or Early Access, whenever that information existed. That could be confusing, because many players recognize a game by its full release year instead.
From now on, the year you see in Gamedle will be the earliest full release that is publicly available. This should better match what you find in most databases and in the way players remember games.
There are a few special cases. Some games spent many years in Early Access and are widely known by that earlier date, for example, titles like Rust or 7 Days to Die. For those exceptions, Gamedle can still use the Early Access year when it is clearly the date that players have in mind, in order to keep the challenge fair and intuitive.
This change is already live. If you spot a title that feels wrong or confusing, you can report it from the game screen or discord, and we will review its dates.
