Smaller devs can use EA to secure funding to complete the game. I’m not against it. Hell, some of my favorite games I played in EA and they were absolutely worth the money even unfinished. Most notably rust, 7 days to die, Valheim(!!!), rimworld… OK I like survival games.

Then we have whale milking factories like star citizen, but that’s where due diligence comes in. Read reviews, watch gameplay, enter with realistic expectations and you won’t be disappointed.