Has there ever been a high profile early access game that crossed the finish line? It seems like studios usually take the money and run, like Bohemia Interactive with DayZ. Five years and tens/hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and the game is abandonware.
Not exactly high profile but subnautica was an early access game that turned out awesome. Granted, I only bought and played it after it was fully finished but early access started 3 years before the final release.
I guess Minecraft is one notable exception.