14 DAY TRIAL // This week the development team at From Software and publisher Sony announce that PlayStation 4 exclusive title Bloodborne is being delayed by more than one month and is at the moment set to be launched on March 25 of next year, after assuring players that it would be offered in early February.
The reason, as always, is that feedback coming from the player base has convinced the developers that more time is needed to polish the experience and to make sure that it can deliver the quality that fans are expecting to see.
In the first few months of next year, other delayed releases include The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, which is created by CD Projekt RED, and Battlefield Hardline, the new first-person shooter that is being worked on by both developer Visceral Games and DICE.
The fan communities for all these titles have been unhappy when announcements were made that launch dates were being pushed back, but most potential customers seem to be satisfied with the offered reasons and still plan to pick the title up as soon as they are available.
Delays should be a sign of trouble
A few years ago a delay, especially for a high-profile project, was a sign of trouble and fans tended to be more careful about spending their money and to take developer statements with a grain of salt.
But companies have learned, as beta testing has been extended to larger groups of players, to say that changes and improvements are made because the community has requested them and the extra time is basically a favor done to the player rather than a sign that something is wrong.
Witcher 3, Bloodborne and Hardline are also major releases and it will be interesting to see the level of quality that it delivers when they are finally out.
The trio could serve as a test for the wider industry: do delays really cater to the needs of the player or do they simply serve the interests of the publishers?
Will there be one-day patches to solve last-minute issues? Will gamers celebrate the developers and their actions or will they criticize them for their choices?
In an ideal world, launch dates would only be publicly revealed when they are set in stone, but the hype cycle unfortunately requires announcements made six months or more in advance and that creates a situation where fans can suffer.
