Game Delays - A New Reality?

IM PLAYIN discusses the recently delayed games and whether or not this will become a trend.

"Console development has always been a good thing. Whether people think that the Wii U is a pile of rubbish or not, the fact that companies continue to innovate their technologies brings us more and more as gamers. One of the biggest developments in recent history has been the connectivity of these consoles to allow us to play our friends online and bring the world together to play against anyone. This is ultimately a great thing, but like many great things, their are side effects that can leave a nasty taste in your mouth, or give you a nasty rash."

[WorldGamer]

I think there has been a shift in the reality of creating these games. These days, game development requires more resources and that translates into more risk at a loss of the game flops.

Also, unfinished or buggy games are not received well by the gaming public, as was seen with BF4. Due to their rush to market, DICE and EA ended up doing severe damage to the BF brand, something I don't see people forgotten anytime soon.

I don't think we will see an increase in delays, just a decrease in "AAA" games being released on a regular basis. I think companies will opt to take their time and craft something solid, rather than releasing a half baked project. We have seen this with Watchdogs and Drive Club, both delayed for further polishing.

The game has changed, there is too much money at stake with the new systems and it will only get worst IMO.

[Concertoine]

We will definitely see some companies fall through this gen like we did last. There is something wrong with game development at a core level when the impressive sales of Tomb Raider don't turn a profit.
One thing i gotta give props to Nintendo for is not neutering game quality to get them out faster. As slow as games come out, they're almost always technically flawless and rarely require a patch.

[thorstein]

I have actually stated this numerous times on here.

There is nothing wrong with game development. There is a problem with people who are not involved in the development process making promises about things that can't possibly be delivered.

I always follow this with a one act play so people can understand:

SUIT: Watch Dogs will be a launch title right?
DEV: Hell no, we need months more time to finish it.
SUIT (To media): We'd like to announce Watch Dogs. It will be available for X1 and PS4 at launch.
DEV: *FACEDESK* That's not what we said.
SUIT: What? When will it be done.
DEV: In 6 more months.
SUIT: (To media): We'd like to announce that Watch Dogs will be delayed to spring in order to polish the game.

Anyone who works in IT knows that this is a weekly if not daily occurrence.

[alexkoepp]

Game delays a new reality?

Pretty sure like practically every game released in the last 10 years has been delayed. This is hardly new

[Concertoine]

@alex
Not sure youre replying to me, i never said anything about delays. They will subside as the devs get used to making games on a grander scale on the new hardware.

[Concertoine]

For all the crap MS's been doing lately, there is ONE thing i gotta hand to them: punctuality. Nintendo, sony, ubisoft, and everyone else has been delaying stuff for months but MS has been pretty true to their release dates. Same with software updates which are coming out very quickly. Credit where credit's due, is all im saying.

[SG1_dapunisherX]

Qb delay, halo 5 delay, & etc. you can't really say that, why because I rather have company take their time rather then a dull games just for a cash grab

[Concertoine]

Halo 5 was announced without a release date and only recently given one. quantum break is only rumored to be delayed to 2015 by one of many purportedly omniscient "insiders". I'm talking about games like driveclub, Pikmin 3, and watch dogs which were given definitive launch windows or release dates and were delayed for a long time.
I'm just saying that titanfall, PvZ, Kinect sports, and all the titles they said would be out at launch were out at launch. they might not be perfect games, but they were released on time. Nothing they've released comes across as a cash grab, obviously a few were 360 titles at one point but that doesn't make them cash grabs.

[JimmyHACK]

Nothing "new" about it.

[incendy35]

I was going to say :D.. If there is one thing about gaming you can always count on, it is delays! Always been that way.

[BG11579]

People said that Indies weren't important...
They were wrong. If AAA games get delayed, what are gamers going to play?

[Palitera]

There's no delay, just the reveal of the actual dates.

The games weren't even meant to be released in the fake first date.

Oh, no, but it also might be a coincidence that now every dev and publisher is recurring to this scheme. It has nothing to do at all with money and hype making.

[Gohadouken]

New reality ? trend ? Did you just start writing about games and following them ? If anything less and less game are late , due to the impulse from Publishers to push through and release it no matter what , at a key moment of the year

[Skate-AK]

Delays are usually for the best. Sometimes it doesn't always work like that though.

[CerealKiller]

Delays are mostly not the developers fault. The publishers didn't give them a reasonable time frame to complete the game.

[AgentSmithPS4]

Better delayed than EA-d.