E3, Game Delays and Why Patience is a Virtue

E3 is famously the highlight of the games calendar for the year and allows gamers to get a taste for next generation titles on the horizon. Before we all get too excited over the next few days, we should remember that many of the games revealed 12 months ago have yet to materialise.

Exactly 12 months ago, we were all getting excited about Tom Clancy’s The Division, one of the most talked about games of the show, along with other titles such as The Witcher 3, Dying Light, Final Fantasy XV, Quantum Break and Kingdom Hearts 3, but it is rapidly looking like we will have to wait until 2015 to get our hands on any of these titles, which is two years since they were first showcased at E3.

We all remember Sony announcing that 20 new SCE Worldwide Studios games would be launched for the PS4 in the console’s first year and yet, after six months, we have only seen five, consisting of Playroom, Knack, Killzone Shadow Fall, inFamous Second Son and MLB 14.

Other show favourites such as Mario Kart 8 and Watch Dogs have only just appeared on our consoles a few weeks before the 2014 show.

So maybe we should all start to be a little more patient and take a break from expecting everything right now.

Gamers are becoming increasingly frustrated with the predictable and tired franchises such as FIFA, Madden, Call of Duty, Assassins Creed and Battlefield appearing on the shelves each Christmas and the AAA landscape desperately needs something fresh and exciting to ensure the shiny next generation consoles live up to our expectations.

For these reasons, it’s disappointing that games such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Quantum Break, Dying Light and Mad Max are also delayed until 2015, which could prevent more people from joining the next gen dream this Christmas.

EA exercised caution by completely bypassing next gen when releasing their World Cup game and even Microsoft have made the prudent decision to announce Forza Horizon 2 on both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One to maximise Christmas sales, but will this be at the expense of a truly next generation version of the game?

Delays are not necessarily a bad thing and I would much sooner a buggy game is delayed a few months, rather than experience another debacle such as the Battlefield 4 release last year, where EA were clearly more concerned with Christmas sales which ended up angering fans with a game riddled with problems.

In a world dominated by social media and leaked press releases or early access previews on Twitch, reputation is everything, which seems to be at least partly responsible for publishers now relaxing their launch dates and giving games the room they need to release the best game they possibly can, which is a contrast to the rushing out of unfinished games we have previously witnessed.

Ultimately, delays are good for both the player and the game if the end product lives up to its promises. Combine this with a release schedule that is more spread out, rather than being crammed into the final quarter, it can only be positive for consumers.

Before anyone tries to cancel Christmas, don’t worry, there will be games aplenty with Assassin’s Creed Unity, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Battlefield: Hardline and Far Cry 4 preparing to soak up your gaming hours, but with the mouth-watering games you will see at E3 over the next few days combined with a growing number of titles scheduled for release in 2015, you better start saving your pennies now and remember that patience really is a virtue.