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Why are game release dates getting weird?
- Thread starter Typhon
- Start date
Damn, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey is coming out on a Friday...unless I pay more to get it Tuesday. Lol, fuck that.
the shift to digital sales and shipping being better now than it was 15 years ago. traditional dates were for retailers more than anyone else and if they aren't as important than you're free to do whatever you want. having a game launched on tuesday meant if you had a delayed shipment you could still get it out before the weekend, which isn't the case with friday releases.
i think the worst shit are $100 versions of games letting you play 3+ days early. if the game is ready to go then everyone should get to play it, find that whole thing kind of gross honestly and makes me less interested in buying the product entirely
i think the worst shit are $100 versions of games letting you play 3+ days early. if the game is ready to go then everyone should get to play it, find that whole thing kind of gross honestly and makes me less interested in buying the product entirely
For a long time during the Wii/DS era, Nintendo released major games in the states on SUNDAYS. How weird is that?
Tekken 5 released on a Thursday back in February of 2005.
Tekken 5 released on a Thursday back in February of 2005.
It's like others also said, since people like Ubisoft and 2K (via NBA 2K Series) made it the normal for games to be available days before the actual release via pre-ordering different editions of a game, that's also a big indicator as to why release dates are now "weird"
Digital games provide more freedom, and when it comes to retail games, they've always come out on Fridays in the UK I believe. So it's not abnormal, really.
We've had games release on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays in North America. Skylanders and some others, like Rock Band or Guitar Hero I think, would release on Sundays. Same with some Nintendo games if I'm not mistaken.
Honestly, Friday makes more sense than Tuesdays because most people have the weekends off, but I'm used to Tuesdays too.
We've had games release on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays in North America. Skylanders and some others, like Rock Band or Guitar Hero I think, would release on Sundays. Same with some Nintendo games if I'm not mistaken.
Honestly, Friday makes more sense than Tuesdays because most people have the weekends off, but I'm used to Tuesdays too.
I hate it. I wish everything still released on a Tuesday. I hate waiting until Friday. Sure you could argue they're coming out BEFORE Tuesday of the following week, but it always sucks having to go through the whole work week, regardless.
BestBuy is also doing an early pickup thing where you can go in the night before at 8:30pm local time and get your game early. So RDR2 releases on Thursday October 25th at 9pm Eastern if you bought from BestBuy in store.
Sony (as well as some other publishers) has always been fond of Fridays in addition to Tuesdays as release dates. Nothing weird.
I love games releasing on Fridays, it's beautiful. Thankfully Sony is doing it more often these times.
Sundays aren't that weird. That's when new sales for retailers start and the ads put in the newspaper.
It's pretty much always been Friday here in the UK. It just makes a lot more sense when it comes to shipping, at least in regions where mail doesn't even move on a Sunday.
Ordering a Tuesday release means it could arrive very early (Saturday) or late (Wednesday). I've ran into both scenarios over the years. With a Friday, delivery is much more guaranteed.
Ordering a Tuesday release means it could arrive very early (Saturday) or late (Wednesday). I've ran into both scenarios over the years. With a Friday, delivery is much more guaranteed.
People are more likely to buy things on Friday. That's why music comes out on Friday now for the most part.
Nintendo games all release on fridays.
and Spider-Man just did too.
I like games releasing on Fridays. I can pick up after work and I have time to play some on the weekend. Released on a Tuesday and I have work the rest of the week.
I remember back in the early 2000s when we'd get big games in time for their Tuesday release, but smaller titles got shipped slower and we often didn't have them until a day or two after their official "ship date". You guys remember ship dates?
IIRC, a lot of Nintendo releases back then happened on Sunday.
IIRC, a lot of Nintendo releases back then happened on Sunday.
Until a couple of years ago games were pretty much always released on Fridays over here in Germany. It always made a whole lot more sense to me to call it a day in the afternoon, walk to the video game store, pick up the newest game and have a whole weekend of gaming pleasure ahead of you, instead of picking it up on a Tuesday evening, feeling exhausted and only being able to play an hour here and there throughout the workweek. Now it's the same as in the US, pretty much every day is a release day and AAA titles usually arrive Tuesdays.
Most retail games officially release in the UK on Friday, i say most as you can get them earlier with Shopto. Or pay for the Gold Edition (Odyssey) to get the game on the 2nd October (Tuesday) or Croft Edition (SotTR), which would have enabled you to get the game 2 days early on the Wednesday.
Digital games however, much more flexible in terms of release.
Digital games however, much more flexible in terms of release.
In an alternate universe, wouldn't " Games are only released on Fridays" seem weird. As they're so unlike movies which is atmost a 4 hour affair.
That was the worst Goddamn thing. I remember being so hype for Galaxy 2 only to not even play much because I had finals the next day.
Digital games tend to range from Tuesday to Thursday. Major releases now flip flop between Tuesday and Friday. Heck a few years ago Nintendo always released their stuff on Sundays. They have been weird for a while and this is now the new norm.
Yeah I was going to say, I thought we've been getting Friday releases for quite some time now?
Wednesday is just life is strange, the four bts episodes all were for whatever reason, and now lis2.
Thats..strange.
Especially for a digital release. The only thing I can think of, is that thats when Steam Store, or whichever digital storefront they're releasing on updates, but iirc Steam updates on Tuesday, right? Not sure about PS.
In the UK games always came out on Fridays. Any other day feels weird to me. Ultimately what does it matter?
The problem with Friday releases is that not everyone works on the weekend. So a late Friday release can easily become a monday one. I remember the switch released on a friday and that was my university spring break...