Delays In Game Development

At the time of writing this, November 5th 2020, the much anticipated game of the year, Projekt Red's "Cyberpunk 2077" has had its release date delayed and pushed back to December of the same year. Understandably a number of fans are upset as they feel they have waited long enough for what could very well be the biggest video game release of the year. Delays in release dates is nothing new to any avid gamer, having to wait through several delays and watching the release of their much anticipated game get pushed back further and further from their grasp. Yet despite this event being nothing new in the world of video games there are still those among the fan base that become openly agitated and at times hostile upon hearing that a title has been pushed back from projected release. This attitude is quite damaging to the world of video games and throngs of gamers as well as game developers. While its okay to feel bummed that the game you're anticipating has been pushed back from its initial release it is not okay to take an aggressive stance with the game's developers.

For example:

In 2016 the long awaited "No Man's Sky" was finally released after several delays and projected release dates being pushed back further and further. For anyone who is familiar with the game and it's rocky road to release knows, or at least has heard of, the numerous death threats that the developers faced as enraged fans vented their frustrations. However, when the game was finally released it was far from what anybody actually wanted. The initial release of "No Man's Sky" was lacking in content and grievously so, aside from aimlessly wandering and exploring there was nothing more the players could do which ultimately lead to the game flopping. Now, while today's "No Man's Sky" is a far more pleasing experience with plenty of content to enjoy the game and it's developers had to expend a great deal of effort to arrive at this final product which begs the question; what if they had been allowed to put in that time and effort on the game's initial development and release? If we as consumers had been patient and put less demand on receiving the product as soon as possible we very well could have had a game much closer to what we can enjoy now.

It is important to say that the developers and creative teams behind our favorite games are not to blame for the delays we experience, they are doing their best to make a game that they can be proud of and is polished as close to perfection as one can get. The companies employing these developers and teams, the marketing groups who have no influence on the game's overall development and creation, are often the ones who publish these projected release dates even though they likely have no idea what stage of development the game is in. This lack of communication is a problem in and of itself and deserves it's own passage but it's something that can't be wholly rectified from the outside.

In summary, we as consumers should look a bit more kindly on delays, after all, we want to play a complete game rather than the broken fragments of one. Delays are inevitable so long as we demand games be delivered as soon as possible rather than when they're done.

I think it goes without saying that we would rather eat a fully cooked pizza as opposed to one that's only partially done and the final product is often worth the wait.