According to insider reports, it has been confirmed: The release of Battlefield 2042 is being postponed. The shooter will share such a fate with many other major titles. Tarek Zehrer, a freelance author at MeinMMO, believes: The release policy in the industry is slowly becoming just annoying.
What are these rumors? Several industry insiders have speculated in recent days about a possible release delay for Battlefield 2042. They all report that their source mentions a possible release in 2022. (via thegamer.com)
However, they do not provide any concrete details, but many consider the possibility to be quite plausible. Since August, it has been relatively quiet around Battlefield 2042. And this, despite the fact that the release on October 22 is not far away, and the franchise is one of the most important from EA.
So it would not surprise anyone if this were to happen. I would not be surprised by a release in 2022 either; however, I must say: It is slowly becoming ridiculous and just annoying. Why do we even need release dates anymore?
Update, September 16: In the meantime, the rumors have been officially confirmed. You can find more about it in our news: Release of Battlefield 2042 has been officially postponed – This is what EA says
Release dates are often just placeholders
What is the problem? Looking at the major releases of recent years, you can notice: A specific date has only minimal significance.
Especially with high-budget games and online features, the trend is clear, but even single-player games are affected.
Here are just a few examples that many of you may be familiar with:
- The MMORPG New World has had to postpone its release multiple times – now discussions about another delay are underway
- Dying Light 2 recently postponed its release to 2022
- The Europe release of Lost Ark was recently also postponed to 2022
- Halo Infinite – Microsoft’s flagship franchise has postponed the release by a year
- Cyberpunk 2077 has been postponed a total of four times
It is becoming increasingly rare for a title to be released on the day it was announced. And don’t get me wrong: The fact that a release is postponed is not necessarily a bad thing for me.
If a game still needs time, publishers and developers should simply take the time and postpone a release if necessary.
But why do we need to set such a tight date in the first place, putting pressure on developers, which cannot then be met? And that in times when crunch is increasingly being discussed and criticized?
Why are release dates becoming increasingly inaccurate and, at least it feels like, being set incorrectly more often? And much more importantly: Why does the customer have to be aware of this at all? One reason could be that the games are becoming more gigantic, complex, and elaborate in development.
That’s why it’s difficult to change anything: The exact reasons can only be speculated about from the outside. But I believe that it has to do with the millions of dollars spent on marketing and hype campaigns in the industry. Nowadays, major advertising campaigns are often launched months and years in advance.
Additionally, major publishers often have to disclose their exact plans in investor conferences. Accordingly, they are almost forced to present some sort of roadmap. After all, the major publishers are multi-billion dollar companies.
This can lead to good ideas and visions for games being destroyed well in advance. The hype is built up, fans are excited, looking forward to the release – and then it doesn’t happen.
As a result, players lose more and more interest in the product, the hype subsides and, in the worst case, high expectations are not met, as with Cyberpunk. This is not good for the fans who get disappointed, not good for the devs who are working hard, and not good for publishers and studios whose reputation is tarnished.
A major game from the last few years has shown how it can work.
Do it like Apex Legends
How did it go with Apex? A positive example from the recent past is Apex Legends. The free-to-play shooter was released simply, without major advance notice. Without months or even years of a marketing campaign.
Apex suddenly appeared and had millions of players within days. Although it is a free-to-play game, it is still difficult to establish oneself as a newcomer in that segment today.
Was the game internally postponed at some point? Who knows? Nothing is known outside the team and the publisher about that. And that is the point: There can’t be a shitstorm if no one finds out about the development of the game years in advance. Developers could at least work with a little more peace.
I would simply wish that more focus would be put on bringing games to market in good condition and taking the time needed.
During years of development, unforeseen events can cause chaos repeatedly. The industry has experienced this vividly with the example of Covid.
So just announce the game when it’s done! I don’t need to know two years in advance whether shooter X will be released sometime in 202X or maybe not. How refreshing would it be if games were simply announced shortly before release?
But what do you think about the topic? Does the release mess bother you as much as it does me? Or do you care less? Discuss with us in the comments.
