When should games be announced

[CptStern]

with the continuing delays plaguing games like Stalker fans sometimes have to wait 2-3 years for release ..which kind of works against the developer because gamers tend to have short attention spans and will jump on the latest game bandwagon if they feel they've waited too long


wait for the poll

 

[CyberPitz]

I'm all for ~1 year prior. I don't like waiting over that for a game -delay or not. Granted, I never lost faith in HL2s long delay. It made it even sweet imho.

 

[Lucid]

You can't predict delays.
Whenever the game's announced there's a chance of delay whenever.

It doesn't matter when it's announced.

 

[DigiQ8]

When the game enters beta (1yr to 6 months)

 

[CptStern]

You can't predict delays.
Whenever the game's announced there's a chance of delay whenever.

It doesn't matter when it's announced.

yes but if they were to announce it near the end of the development cycle, unforeseen delays could be minimalised

 

[jmjneary]

1 year to 6 months is good because at that point there is almost no chance of setbacks or the title not being released when it should *cough* half-life 2 *cough*

 

[PickledGecko]

I understand what you mean, it can be a pain in the arse. I mean, even without any delays, 3yrs is a long time that allows any excitement you may have had for the game to wane. But isn’t there a bigger picture? Imagine how badly affected other aspects of the gaming industry would be hit, such as game magazines. Don’t they pretty much survive by endless hyping and speculation within that 3yr gap?

 

[smwScott]

I think it would definitely be better from a marketing perspective to announce big titles when they are nearing completion. The hype surrounding HL2 was enormous when they announced that it would be available in just a few months, however the delays almost completely killed a lot of the anticipation. I'm not a marketing strategist, but it stands to reason that the game would have enjoyed better sales, at least initially, if they had released the game on time. In addition it takes a lot away from development time/budget to continuously promote it for periods sometimes exceeding 2 years.

However, I think the reason they announce games so early is just as much (or more so) for the sake of their investors as the actual customers.

 

[chu]

A year after the game comes out.

 

[Fliko]

Alpha
I think would be the best.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

6months - 2 months is best.

If you have short enough time span, you can just keep the PR machine going, and really hype the game up. Too long, you get people pissed and you have trouble showing new content because it's like "Been There Done That" type of thing.

 

[Pressure]

When they go gold.

 

[Pesmerga]

When they feel like it.

 

[Nabobalis]

I think alpha is the best time

 

[TheSomeone]

I'm just really tired of "it'll be done when it's done" announcements from publisheres who just want hype. So 2 months beforehand IMO. Of course, sites like IGN would be a lot less fun.

 

[Asuka]

When the game enters alpha (1-2 yrs in advance)