Sunday Thoughts: Release Windows
Why Christmas releases aren't all that bad.
Published: 17:15, 23/10/2011 by Kris [Halbpro].
14You’ve probably noticed a lot of reviews floating around these parts recently. The reason for this is obvious, it’s nearly Christmas. Well I say nearly, we haven’t even reached Halloween yet; it can’t be nearly Christmas if Halloween still has to be overcome. It’s probably more accurate to say we’re now comfortably inside the first month of the year’s final quarter, the quarter in which publishers actually decide it’s worth releasing games in the run up to Christmas and the other associated festivals where people spend a lot of money buying each other gifts.
If they’re already spending a lot of money it makes sense to try and get some of that money into games instead of toys or watches. Who needs a watch anyway? Get a phone, it has a clock built in! And if you have a phone do you really need a watch as well? Are you that desperate to know the time? Where are you off to in such a hurry anyway?
Putting watches aside for now, it’s obvious that publishers are clearly taking the logical move of trying to syphon some of that last quarter dosh into their own bank accounts. The best way of doing this is obviously to bunch up games into the last bit of the year right? I mean who has money the rest of the year round?
To be fair this mildly ridiculous situation has come less pronounced in recent years. A pretty big chunk of this is games that were meant to come out at the end of a year slipping into the next year. It’s understandable really, games are growing more and more complex with much larger teams than we found even a decade ago, the communication overheads alone are going to slow down development.
However, beyond missed target dates it does seem that someone realised a few years ago that money didn’t only exist from October to December. In fact people have it the whole year round. It must have been a terrible shock when someone, probably an accountant, pointed out that it was physically possible to sell things at other times of year. “Look at movies,” they must have said to some higher up, “they manage to come out in the summer.” Can you imagine the shock of that truth as it passed slowly around the industry as a whole? Board meetings must have been in uproar.
Coupled with that is clearly the worrisome presence of Call of Duty. There are few titles that other publishers are so keen to get out of the way of, and realistically it makes a lot of sense to just try and move away from the game’s juggernaut status. Of course there are titles with little to no overlap in terms of audience, but with the exception of a very limited number of titles (like Battlefield) anything that might share a fanbase with Activision’s shooter tries to move away.
Even though the realisation that it is possible to sell games year round does seem to have been made, it’s hardly become standard. The typical release window still seems to be in the tail end of the year and most announcements that are made still seem to feature either “Holiday” or “Q4″ somewhere in them.
Arkham City is one of the few games that I'll actually get around its release.
There are times, particular around August, where I pour over release schedules looking for some dim glimmer of hope, hoping that there’ll be some kind of game to review. Although there’s normally something these days with digital releases, there typically isn’t an awful lot from mid-July until the start of September. It feels like a drought, and I tend to get edgy about there not being any reviews to put out; just ask Peter.
However, I am also a consumer. I don’t actually get as much free stuff as I expect some would think, and the stuff I do get frequently isn’t games. Key rings are lovely, but don’t tend to produce great results when I put them in the Xbox 360′s disk tray. Most of the time I either have to buy games, or go without.
“But Kris,” I hear you cry, “the Christmas release window is hard for consumers!” Well sure it is, if you want to buy things all at once, as soon as they come out; personally I’m willing to wait. There are a few games that override this, Halo and Batman: Arkham City being notable examples, but largely I’m happy to play stuff a few months after it’s out. That’s why I like the way everything gets bunched up, even with releases more spread out now most of the year is pretty dry; I can play older stuff without worrying about new stuff coming out.
I realise that my attitude doesn’t work for many, and I respect those that want games as soon as they’re out; I’m the same with comics. Eventually it will become difficult to hold off on stuff, as it seems inevitable that games will move to a truly year round release schedule. That will make it much, much easier for TSA to have a good level of content year round but make it tougher for me as a consumer. Sadly it’d be impossible for me to win both ways, but ultimately it’s probably better to have a more balanced release schedule; at least smaller games won’t get lost in the pack.
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23/10/2011 at 17:45
Member since: Jan 2009
Personally, I’m actually set up to buy all the games I want for the rest of this year new and still have money in the bank left over, but I can understand people’s frustration in the run up to christmas over the sudden release of games within the next two months.
23/10/2011 at 18:03
Member since: Jun 2010
It has been a bit crazy. I’ve been up at like 2am writing reviews.
23/10/2011 at 18:25
Member since: Mar 2011
I was thinking about this the other day, it does annoy me a little when everything comes out at once, I do get a bit bored during other points of the year, but usually just play through an older game again, batman, portal (and 2) and uncharted, all been played several times. Or there is usually a game like Fallout that takes weeks, those are great for sinking time into… I can see why you get annoyed as there might be nothing to review, but as a reader that knows thats because there are no releases, not because you’re lazy, I can understand that you are still working hard, and then just work extra hard at christmas/E3 when there’s a million things happening a day. :P
23/10/2011 at 18:37
Member since: Nov 2009
I’ll buy games I really want now, and wait till mid next year to get the rest. I love Uncharted but not a huge fan of the MP, so I can get that later. MW3 will also come later. Dark Souls, FIFA12, and Forza are a couple that I’ll wait for.
Must buys for me are BF3, Skyrim, and Batman AC. Yet to finish Deus EX, as I needed to leave the country for over a month =(
Will be back in time for BF3!!! YES!
23/10/2011 at 18:46
Member since: Jun 2009
uncharted thats pretty much it mw3 is inevitable but putting off some games to buy tritton AX pros im so done with turtle beachs not well made at all
23/10/2011 at 19:38
Member since: Nov 2009
I have both Tritton and Turtle Beach. I prefer the Tritton, but I find the TB more comfortable in long sessions.
24/10/2011 at 01:12
Member since: Jun 2009
i had 3 turtle beachs and all of them fallen apart turtle beachs made my ears sweaty they were px21s mind you but the px5s are way overpriced
23/10/2011 at 18:59
Member since: Apr 2010
Hmmm good article, I’m really happy with next months releases its going to be like Xmas all month for me! Although the bill is looking at £600+ ATM
^_^
23/10/2011 at 19:03
Member since: Apr 2009
Whereas normally I’d buy most of my games for the year in the months Oct-Jan, this year it’s just Uncharted 3 out of my pocket and Skyrim at Christmas. To be honest, I’ve still got games on the shelf practically untouched, and these have the calibre of Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2, Hot Pursuit, Enslaved, GT5, LBP2…
Plus PS+ games, so it’s not like I have a shortage of quality to play with.
Looking for cash for the Vita.
23/10/2011 at 19:52
Member since: Mar 2010
I’m with you in that I can wait for months and spread out the games at my own rate. I’m only getting call of duty at the moment as the price never drops on that then I can get uncharted 3 and Batman as and when I’m finished with call of duty. I don’t always see the rush to get things as soon as they come out.
23/10/2011 at 20:03
Member since: Jul 2009
I tend to keep a list of games that have come out that I want to buy. Then when I decide that I want to play an FPS, I have a look through my list and see what FPS’ there are and I have picked Crysis. This system keeps me happy but more importantly keeps my bank balance healthy. Heck I only Red Faction: Guerilla a month or two ago and it only cost a fiver.
23/10/2011 at 20:10
Member since: Aug 2011
Yeah, watches are really dying out. Poor guys.
Anyway, got Arkham City, brilliant. Next is Uncharted 3 day one the rest I can wait for until Christmas.