2020 may be over and done with, but the entertainment industry is still catching up from what some are dubbing ‘the year of delays.’ Many film and gaming studios are beginning to announce dates or even release projects that were originally slated for 2020, but halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While fans have had no choice but to be understanding, it seems that, every time there is a delay, there is a huge wave of backlash online. Disgruntled fans have even gone so far as to bomb any existing review pages for the games with fake bad reviews, leaving the creators struggling to sell their projects.
What video game fans often don’t realize is the delay isn’t for no reason. The developers didn’t delay the game because they haven’t been working hard, or to upset the fans; it’s because they need more time to make a better game that fans will be able to enjoy more.
While a lot of people have varying opinions on if game developers should even be able to delay release dates, especially when many games are now able to be preordered months in advance, it would be morally and ethically wrong to pressure or punish developers for not sticking to their release dates.
Take games such as “No Man’s Sky” or “Cyberpunk 2077”, for example. While both games were delayed various times, both game development studios felt so pressured to release their games that they ultimately ended up releasing unfinished projects. “No Man’s Sky,” while a big disappointment to many at its release in 2016, has only now just started releasing updates with the content that was promised before its release. Fans of “Cyberpunk 2077” were offered full refunds from PlayStation after they removed the game from their online store because it was basically unplayable on the PlayStation console. Sony, the company that owns PlayStation, and “Cyberpunk 2077” developers CD Projekt Red have yet to reach a deal to make the game available again. The game directors, studios and even developers of both games have suffered great abuse from their fanbase online as a result.
If you look on the other side of the same coin, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” was delayed for several months after it was announced in the summer of 2019, even after it had been in development since 2012. Nintendo, the company that owns the Animal Crossing franchise, cited that they wanted the game to be the best it could be and that they wanted to maintain a healthy work life for its developers and not make them work in stressful conditions. The game ended up being the second best-selling game for the Nintendo Switch console, and maintains ratings of over four stars across the board.
Fans need to treat game developers with more respect; they aren’t delaying the game you’ve been waiting for just to watch you suffer. They’re real people with real lives and they’re working hard to make games that people will enjoy. It’s unfair to both the people and the projects they’re working on to try to cancel or terrorize them online for something that will ultimately make a better game for everyone.
