Push The Game Out The Door - Don't Worry If It's Finished

If you thought that release dates are a problem with gaming, then you are not the only one. The president of LucasArts (Jim Ward) has commented that missing release dates in the gaming industry is inexcusable.

“There’s an attitude in this industry that says in order to make a great game, it takes whatever time it takes and it takes whatever money it takes, and that that’s okay,” he claimed. “Well it’s not okay – it’s wrong. It’s not okay in other entertainment businesses. In other businesses it’s big trouble.”

“When you have EA failing to bring Superman out with the movie, that’s inexcusable. Moving games like Medal of Honor and Godfather out of the fourth quarter -– that’s the old way of thinking and you can’t do that any more.”

Jim Ward claims that not getting the product out on time is damaging the industry. However, he doesn't recognise that companies pushing out unfinished products is damaging the industry as well. Too many games are being released unfinished and then being patched afterwards. Does he want this to be the trend that continues. I would prefer a finished product which is running late over an unfinished product which is released on time. Look at some of the current game releases which have been released early unfinished. X3 and Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines just to name 2. As an aside, how would it be if STALKER was released when originally suggested. It would have been completely unfinished.

What the problem is that game developers release the release dates too early. Why doesn't Jim just say that? He should have said, "The industry announces release dates too early. We should be more respectful of the consumer and endeavour to release finished products in to the marketplace." That wasn't too hard to say was it? However, I don't think this will solve the problem, because there is more of an issue with the contractual agreements that game developers make with their distributors which is the problem. Game Developers can get stung if they don't finish the game in time.

Quotes courtesy of:
http://www.mcvuk.com/newsitem.php?id=1110
LucasArts graphic couresy of LucasArts.