Thats the whole point of Early Access

Wait a second, I thought this early access deal was free...you actually have to pay to beta test the game? I read up a little bit and it looked like it was around $35 (correct me if I'm wrong there)...do buyers get the full game on release for free after paying a smaller initial fee for early access, or would they have to pay to upgrade to the full version, or is the full version releasing for that discounted price?

I'm not sure how I feel about this whole deal. Ultimately its up to gamers what they do w/ their money, just hope the listing is upfront about its current state. It's not a valuable prospect for me personally because essentially all you are doing when you join early access for a game like this is robbing yourself of an inarguably better experience by not having your first time in the world be at a point when the game is polished & release ready. That said, it'd be hard for me to keep myself from dropping money on an early access for something like UC4 that I'm highly pumped for but unless gamers are saving money by buying early, they are kinda setting themselves up for disappointment...no matter how fun the game may be now, it could only be a better experience come launch and you can't play a new game for the first time twice.