Developers should refrain from releasing gameplay too soon

May 25, 2015 16:15 GMT  ·  By

After a lengthy wait, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was finally released last week, delivering its sprawling role-playing experience and bringing a confirmation that it doesn't look just like what was showcased back in 2013, when the first gameplay video got its reveal.

While the RPG made by CD Projekt Red still looks quite good in its final version, it does bring into question the current state of the games industry, in which big titles are presented years before their actual launch, establishing unrealistic expectations.

Games get showcased publicly way too early

The Witcher 3 is a prime example of this status quo. The game was announced back in spring of 2013. The estimated release period was spring 2014, so CD Projekt Red wasn't to blame that much, as it estimated that only 12 more months of work was needed to get its RPG ready for launch.

As such, the Polish team quickly showcased the first gameplay footage in summer of 2013, continuing with other videos in the latter months.

Unfortunately, lots of delays started happening, as CD Projekt Red realized that a lot more work was needed to ensure that its open world role-playing game can live up to the expectations of fans. Bear in mind that quite a few of those expectations were generated by the gameplay videos. This generated a vicious circle of constant delays, going from spring of 2014, to fall of that year, February of 2015, and ultimately May of 2015.

EA is doing things right while Ubisoft is making mistakes

Ubisoft is also guilty of propagating this trend, as it's already generated a similar downgrade controversy with Watch Dogs, which got a gameplay video two years ahead of its launch, and ended up disappointing when it actually saw the light of day in 2014.

The French company is set to debut The Division in early 2016 and you can bet good money that similar downgrade accusations are going to be made if the new gameplay videos don't live up to the quality levels seen back in 2013.

Meanwhile, Electronic Arts is doing things quite well in recent times. For example the next Mass Effect, Mirror's Edge, or Need for Speed titles.

Both Mass Effect and Mirror's Edge got some early concept videos back at E3 2014 and, seeing as how they're set to appear sometime in 2016, might actually get some gameplay at this year's E3. Meanwhile, the next Need for Speed racing experience is coming this fall. Its first actual footage with in-game sequences was revealed last week.

While many disapprove of yearly franchises, like Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed, they at least get gameplay footage just a short period before their actual release. Black Ops 3 got some sequences at the end of April, while Assassin's Creed Syndicate got a full alpha gameplay video earlier this month.

Don't show gameplay until you're ready for launch

My personal opinion is that gameplay footage should be revealed a few months ahead of launch. Until then, you can still announce the title and showcase brief cinematic trailers or at least a few screenshots with a big disclaimer that they're from alpha or pre-alpha builds. A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is even more precious, but don't showcase early gameplay unless you're absolutely sure you can live up to that level of quality.

Yes, you have to hype up the game and spur pre-orders or pre-purchases from fans ahead of launch but it's not worth sacrificing the reputation of the game or the team behind it. While mainstream customers don't care all that much, loyal fans remember and they can certainly hurt a launch through word-of-mouth.