Cyberpunk 2077: Games are announced too early - opinion

A few days ago, what was not supposed to happen anymore: "Cyberpunk 2077" was postponed for the third time. After the "The Witcher" maker from CD project Red already presented its newest role-playing epic for the first time in 2012, players need to be patient for three weeks longer than last adopted. Already in the past, many players wondered if the responsible persons did not call their project a bit too early. A question that has already been doubted several times in recent years and they should now go here.

To early announcements are a double-edged sword

If we remember a few years, probably every two, three or maybe even more games occur, which the respective publisher would preferably not pronounce the public back at that time. Nintendo's projects "Bayonetta 3" or "Metroid Prime 4", for example, were obviously simply not enough for their time to appear on the radar. Both titles were very probably still in a very early stage of development, possibly the right development had not yet begun, but the makers were still in a finding phase for the respective game.

Other prominent examples In addition to these two and "Cyberpunk 2077", Bethesdas would be "Doom" reboot, whose development had to be restarted after the first announcement at least once, or Naughty Dogs "The Last of Us: Part 2" and Team Icos "The Last Guardian". As with the two previously mentioned Nintendo projects, the development was probably not too far advanced in these cases, if this was already really started. In such a stage, a game may simply not be announced.

However, there are quite comprehensible reasons for early announcements and the most important of this is "Hype". In particular, AAA productions of large studios require a high level of attention early in the morning, which must ideally be kept as constant as possible from the date of announcement to the release. Especially nowadays, this step is understandable from a purely economic point of view, after all, this also serves to show the shareholders and investors, which has the corresponding company currently in the pipeline.

Early announcements are, however, as it is so beautiful, always a double-edged sword. If the game appears too early after his revelation, the hype is therefore not big enough in case of doubt to become the hoped for. However, the publication is too late, the hype and thus also the interest of the players could already be extinguished and go down the game. In addition, an early announcement at the players could arouse unrealistic expectations of the final product, as features may be shown, which in the end do not create the finished game. The first impression of a game remains liable - sometimes to the chagrin of the developers.

The first impression remains often liable

Dominic Matthews, who worked as a product manager at Ninja Theory, to "DMC: Devil May Cry" and "Einslaved: Odyssey to the West", who worked as a product manager at Ninja Theory and "ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West", are therefore difficult because they are difficult for many players to many players for publishing a title remained. In his opinion, many gamers can not understand that a game can change after his announcement, which is why the product shown during the announcement can be as good as never representative of its final version.

However, he admits that fairly early revelations for the developers can also have a liberating effect and many want to announce their game as early as possible. Once there is a burden of those responsible because they are allowed to speak of them publicly about their project - also faces friends and families. In addition, an early announcement, provided that this is a positive response, can help ensure additional forces for development. Incidentally, an early presentation makes the publishers make the discontinuation of a project, as many people talk about it. If the information should be missed for a long time, this is particularly a bad light on the responsible publisher, which may not know what he's doing.

Another risk is also nowadays Leaks, which could make a game in front of his revelation. Early announcements in such cases are a probate remedy, any leads that a game may might tug far too early in the limelight. But when would now be, given this complex environment, the perfect time to officially announce a game?

Finding the perfect timing is difficult

For those responsible, it is often a Hercules task to make the perfect timing for announcement. Many productions nowadays need a certain hype to ultimately achieve as many players as possible. That's why it's difficult for us to assess players when an announcement was too early - at least in many cases. However, it is really too early, but above all, when the makers on the same breath of a revelation, the actual production of the game has not yet started in full, as eight years ago also in the case of "cyberpunk 2077".

Ultimately, it is good for all involved, if always something can be shown for announcement, which conveys at least an approximate impression of what we will actually hold as a player in the end - and this should ideally be more than just a logo or A non-sense render trailer. Therefore, games should not be announced until the release is no longer in far away. In such cases, developers and publishers know that they can show something that is really close to the end product, and we ideally already get a pretty clear idea, whereupon we can actually look forward to the end.

Each gamer is likely to understand that development and publication of a title are a tremendous logist. However, we should not be allowed to hang up for several years in the air and ask us if the last announced game we look forward to that will really appear one day. In the worst, this could cause people to start making a bad mood against a game. Therefore, a revelation may be an acceptable compromise one to a maximum of two years before release, with which the right preparations and the necessary communication could live all sides. So those responsible have enough time to generate a hype, and we players have something we can look forward to.

Are you working now: When should games of your opinion be ideally announced?

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