Delays are a touchy subject among video game players. Drawing on Internet ire seemingly from the fiery pits of hell, some players vent their unbridled frustration on the friendly confines of NeoGAF.com. Others take a more rational approach, believing extra time should make better product.
I tend to fall in the latter camp. Rockstar is a frequent offender and their releases almost always come out top-notch. Earlier this week Ubisoft announced that “Watch Dogs,” perhaps the most anticipated new Intellectual Property of the fall, would be delayed into spring 2014. For the record, I’m completely on board with this delay, especially with such a high-profile release. This delay, however, doesn’t come without consequences.
Ubisoft stock plummeted 32 percent following the delays of both “Watch Dogs” and “The Crew,” Ubisoft’s new driving title. That’s understandable. Pushed into the next fiscal quarter, Ubisoft’s already faltering titles “Rayman Legends” and “Splinter Cell: Blacklist” make the outlook for this quarter considerably dire. Luckily, “Rayman’s” easy creation tools mean its budget wasn’t too extravagant, but the latest “Splinter Cell” underperforming can’t be an easy pill to swallow.
While Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot certainly isn’t in financial trouble by virtue of the Scrooge McDuck levels of coin “Just Dance” brings in every year, this delay will affect the myriad launch bundles that promised “Watch Dogs.” In addition, it shatters their marketing push for a project coming right as gamers are hungering for new IPs to kick off the generation. Rather than facing stalwarts like “Call of Duty,” “Watch Dogs” is now set against creative next-gen offerings such as “Titanfall” or the vast array of indie games Sony is putting out.
At this point “Assassin’s Creed” doesn’t really need the extra marketing push, it sells on name alone. I have no doubt “Watch Dogs” will still sell well and be a better product because of it, but I don’t think the delay is solely affecting quality.
Meanwhile, in the indie space this week, “Dark Matter” launched on Steam and probably could’ve used a delay. After a failed Kickstarter campaign, developer InterWave Studios launched their 2.5-D horror title with a six to eight hour campaign that ends in an abrupt wall of black and white text. Initially stating the story would be continued, InterWave altered the final text to read, “there may be more left to explore.”
The basic terms of capitalism and consumer satisfaction aside, InterWave’s actions only cheapen the plethora of avenues for indies to garner funding nowadays. Rather than deciding to cut content or simply make an ending that doesn’t sound like shit, the developers seemed to mislead consumers into believing they were acquiring a complete product. Instead, they seemingly got a first chapter.
I’m all for Kickstarter (a website I write for recently launched a successful one), but its reputation in the industry quickly soured from the jovial days of Tim Schafer’s pitch oh so long ago. Now, torrents of people put up projects they deem worthy, leaving it up to the populous to determine winners and losers. It’s not unlike pitching to publishers, only it’s removed from those nasty, good-for-nothing executives—except your project apparently wasn’t good enough to garner financial backing. Following this sentiment, I typically don’t back many projects unless they look truly stunning.
Yet, I digress. The reality is that InterWave completely bungled this entire situation. Put this up on Steam Early Access and slowly retrieve the necessary funding a la the magnificent “Assault Android Cactus.” Cut content, include a realistic ending, rework your original design, for God’s sake, you could just call it “Chapter One!”
Developers constantly deal with time constraints requiring them to reformat their initial vision. If anyone’s looking for the completely wrong way to release a full-scale title, check out “Dark Matter.” I’m mildly surprised Steam even let them put this up, but, even more so, I’m disappointed InterWave would take the easiest path out of a situation for which modern funding techniques have created so many solutions.
Are you tired of game producers delaying release dates? Tell Adam at aparis@wisc.edu.
