Games should not be announced AT ALL unless they release within a calendar year

[Uhyve]

I don't understand why anyone would care. If anything, I'm happy to know Metroid Prime 4 is coming, they can take as long as they want, I'll just play other things until then...

Same deal the FFVII remake, cool that it's happening with the added bonus of an end to the begging for a FFVII remake.

I can't even really see any downsides, just be patient.

 

[Deimos]

Agreed, It's annoying to wait and my hype will die down by the time the game is released, so I won't buy it early.

 

[hank_tree]

Eh but how would Square Enix survive if they couldn't sell merch for unreleased games for 6 years to fund development.

 

[gcwy]

I concur. I'm not a big fan of announcing games way too early and milking the shit out of it until there's nothing left and people start losing interest in it.

 

[SeriousGoku]

Agreed. These long ass wait periods are ridiculous and lead to disappointment.

 

[marmalade]

Games should be announced when they are greenlit and enter full production. The idea of losing competitive advantage seems like a relic of the Atari era given complexity of modern games.

 

[GodofWine]

F that noise - I'm here to announce Modern Warfare 9.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

Games like Sonic Mania essentially owe their existence to early marketing. The entire community that Stealth birthed began as a group of people cataloging early prototype Sonic the Hedgehog screenshots from magazine articles to chronicle all features missing from final versions. That drove interest into save state hacking to uncover more, which lead to finding and dumping actual prototypes, which lead to disassemblies, which lead to community source codes, which lead to people like Christian Whitehead comprehending and understanding how to port said engine, which convinced Sega to hire him to make Sonic CD, which use used to make Sonic 1 and 2, which convinced Sega to let him make an original game.

Without all those years worth of pre-release screenshots existing, the entire community that birthed the game would likely have never formed.

 

[spad3]

Companies make announcements as they see fit for their investors/shareholders.

However, there are instances where things have worked out for the better - case in point - Mortal Kombat 11. Announced in like Nov/December, released 5 months later.

 

[Pyro]

I've loved Capcom's approach this gen and other publishers should take note. There have been some games this gen, that when it finally comes out, I just don't feel like playing it.

 

[DarthBuzzard]

Half life 3....

Seriously though cyberpunk was announced early but that wasn't reannounced until it was a good amount into development

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Valve have learnt from their mistakes it seems. Artifact launched in roughly one year after announcement. DOTA Underlords launched very fast. Valve's big 2019 game hasn't even been revealed yet and that should be releasing within months.

 

[MaverickHunterAsh]

Hard disagree. I personally don't mind learning about games more than a year (or two) prior to release, but more than that, the only time games "should" be announced is when a publisher's marketing department determines they should be relative to their internal metrics and investor relations. If those decisions backfire at market, so be it and they'll pay the price (literally), but they're not compelled to announce games when you (or any consumer) want them to. Marketing people get paid to do what they do for a reason.

If enough poor marketing decisions are made by a publisher such that sales are consistently kneecapped, then the good PR departments will course-correct on their own and you'll see games getting announced closer to release, when you want them to be. It's just not going to necessarily happen on your schedule, that's all.

 

[karnage10]

Personally i disagree with the OP. Games can be announced early as long as the information about the game continues instead of just giving a trailer/teaser.

Look at paradox where games get DD almost every week talking about features, art, sounddesign,etc.

 

[jaymzi]

In other words...ignorance is bliss.

 

[PadawanOfWindu]

I like the specialness of waiting for a great Zelda or the like over a long time. If everything just suddenly came out it would really take away from the articles, magazines, and previews about a game leading up to release.

 

[Com_Raven]

Counterpoint- that basically means that you won't be able to implement much fan feedback by the time of launch, which depending on game and genre (think MMOs) can be a major problem.

 

[martincrimson87]

Gaming industry

Ctrl c Bethesda approach with fallout 4 Ctrl v

 

[Shabutaro]

But I like the antici...






































...pation.

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This is a nice post

 

[Siresly]

I don't mind

 

[Wulfric]

I actually like the way movies do it. Everything is announced years in advance since it's too difficult otherwise to keep the film a secret.

The way I see it, let me know ahead of time so I know to set aside money for it.

 

[Ruisu]

My lord some of the responses in this thread are incredibly immature.
It's certainly practical to want game reveals to take place within the same year of release if possible.
Note the word "game reveals". Honestly if Nintendo said "ay mate we're making da new Mario" that's all they'd need to satisfy investors and attract new recruits. They don't need to a big teaser trailer 3 years in advance. Knowing its in development is enough. But don't start the damn hype cycle several years in advance.

Atlus is a big offender imo. Personally I think Project Re:Fantasy was their best attempt yet. They announced it's a project in the works and they're recruiting for it.
SMT V is the opposite it's awful. Two hype trailers and we still don't know if it's coming out next year or the year after.

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Personally, I might be totally wrong here, but investors might not be quite as excited abou putting their money in a new game if all they have for it is like, a one sentence tweet or something like that. A big teaser trailer, like a CG concept trailer for example is clearly better. It measures engagement more clearly, reveals numbers and reactions to the announcement, sites have stuff to post and speculate about and all that is valuable to investors because it shows people are excited to buy that game.

Someone might call that manipulative, but honestly it's not really less than if that was all focused on the same year the game launches. And getting more investment money earlier is money that can go into the development no?

 

[nopattern]

And that worked perfectly for them, as much as you might not like it

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ok cool? thanks for the update?

 

[FlintSpace]

I do not agree at all.

I can guess that announcing a gamer earlier may add something lucrative to show in investors briefing(?).
Generating hype is better marketing.
And it is their product, they can announce whenever they want in whatever light they choose to. Consumer decision lies on us to reject the product or have a realistic patience towards it, if this a normal occurrence.

 

[ToddBonzalez]

Yeah. I think Sony's learned their lesson in this respect. Too many games announced >=3 years from their release date. That's just too long of a hype cycle imo.

 

[Digital Savior]

Why are you so angry about it? If all companies did a less than one year announcement rule, then some other hooligan is gonna me a post about how there's nothing to look forward to in the future.

Everyone just needs to relax and enjoy things. If you can't handle it, then consider getting professional assistance.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Cry much OP? There is a lot to gain by announcing early. Investor interest, share holder understanding on R&D investment directly tied to a product, mindshare in the market with a slow burn marketing campaign, project interest from outside talent who will want to work with you (best possible type of recruiting) plus the internal cultural benefits to a project that isn't under lock and key from the public. There are many draw backs too, some you pointed out, but all you did in your OP is come off like a little crying brat who cant be patient for something.

Hell the best example of this is FF7R, with the development crew feeling down after the first year due to project hardships, but being invigorated due to the insane support coming from the public. I remember one youtuber posting his story about the team being almost in tears from the outpouring of support and amazing fan response, and how much it inspired them to continue and make the best possible product. Sure some of that is PR spin, but I know how having people be excited over what you are doing is the fuel of the gods when you are feeling down.

If you are excited about a product and its taking a long time, why not try putting some of that passionate anger you have there into a message to that development staff showing your support for the long hours they are working to get something out.

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I know the mods gave this member a warning, but the actual post content is really good and I fully agree on the points about energising and inspiring the developers.

I get that some people let the hype culture of videogames get to them, but that's not really the fault of game producers.

As has been said before, 99% of us can get hyped for a Marvel MCU movie years in the making and not lose our shit, so why do the rules suddenly change when we're talking about videogames?

I personally would want to know what games are coming down the pipe.

On the other hand, I do agree that if devs/pubs wanna continue to make an event out of game announcements, then they shouldn't announce anything until they can show a gameplay trailer / vertical slice demo, or at least a CGI trailer that gives an indication of what the game is actually going to be like.

This last E3 was utter tripe because everything was the bad kind of CGI trailers. And also, please no more announcements of announcements.

 

[Deleted member 42484]

I like how both Luigi's Mansion 3 and Astral Chain were announced, basically announced and released within a year later, and both look great.

 

[Puffy]

Don't care

 

[Deleted member 12186]

I'd go for 1.5 to 2 years max for preorder and planning purposes.

 

[TheMadTitan]

Capcom and Bethesda have this down; they don't announce shit anymore until it's at most nine months out. If it's not some cultural phenomenon kind of announcement like REMake2 or FF7R, don't tell me about it until it's close.

 

[Death Penalty]

I don't mind waiting, and there's no downside to knowing early besides the wait.

 

[____]

Let people do whatever the fuck they want with their products

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This

 

[Tora]

What, you don't want to wait 4 years for the Last of us 2?

In fairness, sometimes I feel like companies would rather announce projects that are obviously happening so that they don't have to risk it getting leaked.

I think the way borderlands 3 handled it was good, though.

 

[Aztorian]

Meanwhile everyone is anxiously waiting for Sony to show PS5 while it's still more than a year away. Games coming ot within a year of announcement actually don't build up enough hype (for me) to look forward to it. All the smal crumbs of information through the years and seeing the development of the game through the years actually adds to its value.

 

[Thorrgal]

I don't agree.

And btw, why so angry??

 

[Jawmuncher]

Still waiting for a Publisher to have enough courage to announce and release a big AAA title in the span of a week.

 

[Imitation Of Life]

Announcing games early has never annoyed me or caused me to like a game less. Seems like the most insignificant and petty thing to be bothered about.

I agree, hype turns toxic real fast. If it was up to me (it isn't) I wouldn't want to announce them until they've gone gold.

Edit: this is in regards to gigantic AAA releases. Indie titles with smaller marketing budgets if any needs more time to garner attention

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Good thing it's not up to you. You want games to have 1 to 2 months of marketing? That's ridiculous.

 

[Camisado]

Square-Enix the thread.

Any announcement from them might as well be "Hey guys, we were thinking about making another Kingdom Hearts game? I dunno, anyway here is a logo one of our guys mocked up on the flight over here.... see you in 8 years!"

 

[DoradoWinston]

Still waiting for a Publisher to have enough courage to announce and release a big AAA title in the span of a week.

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GTA6 could be released tomorrow and the word of mouth alone will make that a multi million seller by the end of the week EASY tbh.

 

[NekoNeko]

i swing the other way completely. announce what you are working on as soon as possible. stop with this secrecy nonsense.

 

[Neiteio]

Nintendo is usually good about this. Luigi's Mansion 3 was announced last fall and will release this fall. Link's Awakening, Astral Chain and Super Mario Maker 2 were all announced this year and release this year. Pokemon Sword and Shield were first shown this year and release this holiday. Heck, even something as massive as Smash Bros Ultimate was shown one month and then released six months later.

 

[Imitation Of Life]

Nintendo is usually good about this. Luigi's Mansion 3 was announced last fall and will release this fall. Link's Awakening, Astral Chain and Super Mario Maker 2 were all announced this year and release this year. Pokemon Sword and Shield were first shown this year and release this holiday. Heck, even something as massive as Smash Bros Ultimate was shown one month and then released six months later.

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They have also announced Metroid and BOTW2 several years in advance. I see no problem with either strategy.

 

[karmitt]

I mostly agree, except where I know there's heaps of super appealing stuff coming right around the corner. For instance waiting on MP4 should just drive me nuts - but with so many games that really appeal to me hitting from July until November, I'm not sure how much I care anymore.

They have also announced Metroid and BOTW2 several years in advance. I see no problem with either strategy.

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I haven't given up on BotW being a mid-late 2020 game. I'd say that'd be close enough to one year.

 

[Neiteio]

They have also announced Metroid and BOTW2 several years in advance. I see no problem with either strategy.

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I actually think BotW2 may release next year. They've been working on it since BotW, have abundant ideas, and they said they're revisiting the same Hyrule. The vast majority of the first game's dev time was spent laying the groundwork (physics engine, world design, materials logic, figuring out how an open-air Zelda would work, etc). They don't have to reinvent the wheel this time. Remember how quickly they released Majora's Mask following a similar strategy?

 

[Bishop89]

I rather know what's in the pipeline for the next couple of years

 

[Sumio Mondo]

Nintendo is usually good about this. Luigi's Mansion 3 was announced last fall and will release this fall. Link's Awakening, Astral Chain and Super Mario Maker 2 were all announced this year and release this year. Pokemon Sword and Shield were first shown this year and release this holiday. Heck, even something as massive as Smash Bros Ultimate was shown one month and then released six months later.

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That was a course correction after the likes of Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4, though.

 

[Bedameister]

No, I like to know if games I'm looking foreward to are in developement or not. Even if they're still a couple of years away. Knowing they're actually making them comforts me instead of having to hope for the best.

 

[Siresly]

waiting.

 

[Deleted member 8852]

I agree, although sometimes the fallout from hype to actual product ends up being more entertaining than the game itself. I don't get pulled into hype cycles easily anyway.

 

[Jon God]

I love it when games are announced way out. I guess I am alone in that.

When you get little bits of info here and there, and are just left to be excited on your own about it.

The announcement->release thing gets games into the hands of gamers faster, but I dunno, I feel some magic is lost when it's about the 'now' hype, rather than the naturally occurring hype.

Think about every thing about Final Fantasy VII Remake, it gets huge headlines, and people are excited. We don't even know the overall length of the game ffs.

I kinda miss that in gaming.