Video games need time to cook.
There’s a common complaint these days about games, whether it’s a hot indie or a blockbuster triple-A title — the game “feels unfinished;” it’s “underdone;” there are many technical issues and bugs; textures aren’t there at times or use placeholders, or pop in at the last possible minute even when you’re playing on the highest graphics settings and a high-end machine.
It’s happened multiple times this decade and all with very high-profile. Cyberpunk 2077 was famously buggy on release, Redfall showed us Arkane was less than perfect, Star Wars: Outlaws was released nigh-unplayable, and, most recently, Civilization VII got dumped unceremoniously into our laps with enough technical issues that even tight-fisted retailers accepted refund requests.
With updates, three of these four games (as of writing, Civ VII is still barely playable) were fixed to an appreciably better state — not to the point that they’d be classics (okay, 2077 would be) but to the point that they went from “disaster” to “pretty good.” All they needed was time and effort to be fixed.
So why didn’t they have that time and effort? In some cases, an already bloated release schedule and multiple delays, publishers shoving things out the door as soon as possible, or last-minute changes sacrificing stability for a complete design overhaul. Game dev cycles are arduous, and “fix it in post” is seductive, especially when you can push day-one updates. Week-of updates are even expected as a way to fix last-minute bugs. Besides, better a game releases, right? No one buys vaporware.
The problem with this mentality is that there’s a reason that “fix it in post” is a bad philosophy. If you can’t get it right the first time, you can’t guarantee that you’ll fix it. Further complicating issues, what if those patches and fixes go wrong and a botched game turns into a disaster? No one should rely on “we’ll fix it later” as a strategy, especially when that initial impression means that people won’t wait for “later.”
Especially when rising costs of games mean that someone’s paying roughly 2% of their monthly income for something broken if they want it day one. Regardless of how many Nintendo fans bring out the inflation calculator, gamers are rapidly being priced out of their hobby, waiting several months to even years for companies to fix their mistakes and for games to be affordable.
Most (not all) of this could be fixed if games companies just…let games cook. Choose reasonable release dates, aim for lower costs and a longer dev cycle without crunch, and we’re set for another golden age of gaming, where most games are “pretty good” and the “pretty good” ones are stellar.
Or, keep things going as they are and get left in the past. Their choice.
Tell us what you think! Should devs let games have the time to get better? Or is timeliness worth a few bugs? Share your reactions in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord, Facebook, or Twitter.
Featured Image: Ubisoft
Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast about Video Games
The Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast about Video Games – is the flagship show of the Boss Rush Network and Boss Rush Media. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig and LeRon Dawkins are joined by friends, fellow creators, indie developers, and industry veterans to discuss the latest in the world of video games, including news, rumors, new releases, and what they’ve been playing. They also answer listener questions, debate important industry topics and Boss Rush Banter discussion points, and feature a rotating weekly segment. New episodes post every Monday.
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