What you need to know
- Starfield and Redfall were recently delayed, which inspired discussion about how companies should announce games.
- The vast majority of our readers that voted in a recent poll believe that Microsoft should not share specific release dates for games far ahead of time.
- Only 7.5% of participants want Microsoft to announce games far in advance with a specific release date.
When Starfield and Redfall were delayed, many expressed disappointment online. They were just the latest in a string of delayed titles across the industry. Microsoft isn't the only company that has to announce delays, but since Starfield and Redfall are both owned by Microsoft (though Bethesda does run somewhat independently), we wanted to hear people's thoughts on how the company should handle game announcements.
Our readers disagreed on when Microsoft should announce games, but almost all voters agreed that the company should not promise release dates until closer to a title's launch. Just under 48% of participants said that Microsoft should only announce games a few months before they come out. 44.5% of voters think Microsoft should announce games far in advance but that they shouldn't share a release date.
Only 7.5% of our readers think that Microsoft should share specific release dates far ahead of a game actually coming out.
While some may prefer having time to anticipate a game, others enjoy a surprise. "One of the greatest video game surprises was Unravel 2 because it just appeared at E3 and was available the same day," said Sin Ogaris in our comments section. "And the game was crazy polished on release."
Of course, sharing release dates early and then having to back out isn't exclusive to Microsoft. "Tbh, I think that's a question for the whole video game industry, not only Microsoft," said Yahia Mostafa in our comments section.
Vizer90 shared similar sentiments. "This is industry wide.... almost every major AAA game the past 2 years has been delayed at least 1x."
