14 DAY TRIAL // January is pretty much an empty month when it comes to video game releases and the industry looks to February for a few signs of life, with the “Second Christmas” period set to begin in March and last throughout April and the early parts of May.
This is a direct result of the fact that publishers tend to put out big titles during the fall months and, when they got too crowded and competitive, moved the most promising of the rest to March (basically six months before the big holiday season).
The same publishers should now acknowledge that it would be easier to sell certain kinds of games if they designed one month of another for a certain type of game that would otherwise have a hard time reaching the market.
Strategy gaming, a niche that has been slowly fading from the mainstream, might benefit from having a dedicated spot in the year.
Let’s say June, which is usually a dead month, is agreed as the month for strategy games, when gamers see the launch of Starcraft, Dawn of War, Hearts of Iron, Total War and any other new intellectual property that comes to the genre.
Fans would have a field day with the games it will be easy for them to compare and contrast them.
Some will say that it’s wasteful to launch these games at roughly the same time and force gamers to spend on so many games they like at the same time.
It could also result in a drop of relative sales in the short time.
But it would also make it easier for players to plan their gaming schedule for the year and to predict when and how they will spend their available cash and would create a space that is reserved for genres that otherwise tend to get little notice from the gaming press and from their publishers.