Are there too many games delayed more so then ever?

Games like Witcher 3, Bloodborne, Mighty No.9 Uncharted 4, and just now, Rainbow Siege. what do they have in common? They were all delayed at least once. Games get delayed on a more frequent basis with each passing year, to the point that it becomes hard to believe a release date when it's first announced. Constant delays tend to scare me and those games usually end up being bad. I am very cautious about Rainbow Six Siege as it's been delayed for years. Typically I don't mind delays, because there are plenty of other games coming out on a monthly basis to keep me busy and as the famous Shigeru Miyamoto quote goes: "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad. Do you feel that there has been way too many delay games to you?

As long as they take the time to fix up the game, it's a good thing in my book.

I feel like with the advence of internet in our gaming hobby mean we know stuff the second the information is given to a reporter so ... no magic anymore and I think that it means we know about delay far more than we used to.

Back during the mag days, you could have to wait a month before you had any info and so during that time, a game may be annonced for X date and then delayed and no one would know.

I don't mind the delays myself because if it's not ready then it's not ready. There's so many good games that come out these that I'll always have something to keep me busy anyway. I have a pretty sizable backlog as well.

witcher 3 , bloodborne were delayed ,but they came out to be the best games this gen have.and it will be the same with uncharted 4, its gonna be epic !

@davillain-: i believe it's just that a much larger amount of games are in development at any given time now compared to 10-20 years ago. so, of course you're going to see more of everything; more delays, more cancellations, more master-pieces, more crap.

At least I don't mind: I prefer quality and well finished product than EA and alike.

@davillain-:Yes, more games are being delayed than ever. The problem isn't the delays themselves, though. The problem is the release windows being announced are unrealistic.

Why is that? Several reasons. For one, publishers know that people are more likely to pre-order if they feel the game is coming sooner rather than later. Another reason is that platform holders like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all want to sell consoles and the only way to do it is to say "the games are coming soon" with unreasonable release windows for their first party games, while pressuring third parties to announce "optimistic" windows themselves during big events.

They know damn well they can't meet those dates. Everyone in the industry is experienced enough to know how unrealistic they are. At Gamescom 2013 when Ready at Dawn announced a winter 2014 release date, a lot of publications that got to see the game behind closed doors and openly said they suspected the game would be delayed ("Not Quite Ready at Dawn"). Even GameSpot had a preview a few months later with the article subtitled "Too little, too soon," with the editor saying, "Weerasuriya said that the people at Ready at Dawn are working hard to get the game out in 2014, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up getting pushed back." How would all these publications know so early if the developers and the publishers didn't already know they were lying?

It's pretty despicable.

I prefer delays to broken releases

[Prepare for long replies]

Agree. I hope the wait is worth it these days.

I wonder if these game developers underestimate PS4/Xbox One capabilities. Giving the fact that development takes a long time, I guess the extra time is needed to polish the game.

@elheber said:

@davillain-:Yes, more games are being delayed than ever. The problem isn't the delays themselves, though. The problem is the release windows being announced are unrealistic.

Why is that? Several reasons. For one, publishers know that people are more likely to pre-order if they feel the game is coming sooner rather than later. Another reason is that platform holders like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all want to sell consoles and the only way to do it is to say "the games are coming soon" with unreasonable release windows for their first party games, while pressuring third parties to announce "optimistic" windows themselves during big events.

They know damn well they can't meet those dates. Everyone in the industry is experienced enough to know how unrealistic they are. At Gamescom 2013 when Ready at Dawn announced a winter 2014 release date, a lot of publications that got to see the game behind closed doors and openly said they suspected the game would be delayed ("Not Quite Ready at Dawn"). Even GameSpot had a preview a few months later with the article subtitled "Too little, too soon," with the editor saying, "Weerasuriya said that the people at Ready at Dawn are working hard to get the game out in 2014, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up getting pushed back." How would all these publications know so early if the developers and the publishers didn't already know they were lying?

It's pretty despicable.

Now this is a good post. I agree that not everyone is perfect these days. Like I said, I'm cool with delays since there are more games to play then waiting for AAA/AA games.

@davillain-: I think with todays 'release now, patch later' mentality, the fact more games are getting delayed is actually a good thing. I think when DriveClub and Halo MCC came out broken the public and developers both reached a tipping point and some(not all) publishers realized the backlash for putting out a shitty game @ launch could impact the bottom line.

As you know I've been playing Assassins Creed: Unity the past week, and the game is excellent, but I wonder how badly sales were hindered by the buggy mess that was released last year. Had they waited 6-12 months, and released the game in its current state, they may have sold more copies of the game and had a higher profit margin.

publishers should stop announcing game release dates so early... Bethesda is doing it the right way with Fallout 4, announced the game and releasing it 5 months later

@Flubbbs: I agree, they announced the game AFTER it had been completed, and they're using those 5 months to tweak and polish the game so the product they put out is the best possible game they could make. For that reason alone I think Fallout is one of my most anticipated games of the year.

Tom Clancy's- The Division... I preordered it December 2014, the release date is currently March 2016 I will be very disappointed if they delay that more..

Why do they delay games?