More Thoughts From Me #215: Be Prepared For Delays

I’ve been hesitant to write this column. I don’t really like to write negatively in this column. But I see a lot of people hoping for this game or that game. We see rumors all the time. And with the current state of the world, I can’t help but think that will we see a lot of delayed games this year. We’ve already seen it with the movie industry. Why should the video game industry be any different? Here are my thoughts on what we should expect, game wise, in 2020.

The current state of the world isn’t great. Boy is that an understatement. A lot of people are getting sick, some are dying, and the rest of us are trying to stay in and at home as much as possible.

Meanwhile, the entertainment industry is closing down. Non-essential shops are closing or going to curbside/online orders. Theaters are closed. Sit in restaurants are closed. Theatrical movies have been delayed or are being released via digital.

And as for the video game industry? Well, the pandemic hasn’t hit it too hard yet. Animal Crossing New Horizons and Doom Eternal came out on time. And it looks Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Resident Evil 3 will. The Outer Worlds was delayed for Switch but not much else has been delayed yet. However…

My feeling, and I hate to say this (or write this), is that we’ll see a lot of delayed games this year. Yes, I’m sure some work will be done on games at home. Some indies will be able to adjust fine to this I suspect. However, the larger game releases may have trouble adjusting to development from afar.

The truth is that we don’t know how long the pandemic will last. We hope its not all year…or longer…but even if its not, we may still see development delays on games. This will likely effect the second half of this year (August-December) more than this first half.

Why I am writing all this? I think its important for all of us to temper our expectations this year. There is so much going on. The world has changed so much in just a manner of a month. I don’t think its hit everyone yet.

Please be kind to the developers. They are people too. They may not get games out when you want them to. There may not be as many new game announcements as you suspect. Heck, those new systems might even get delayed till next year…

I think we are very lucky to have gotten Animal Crossing New Horizons and soon Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Resident Evil 3. Please enjoy those games. And support indies! There are so many amazing indies already out on the eshop, PSN, and Xbox Live. Go seek them out too.

2020 hasn’t been a great year so far. It may not be a great year overall. Then again, maybe things will turn around soon and I will be totally wrong about the big game delays. I hope so. I hope the world gets better. I hope we can go to the theater again soon. I hope we can expect major games. I hope things get better.

Meanwhile, stay at home if you can. Wash your hands.

Next week: Maybe I’ll finally get around to playing that Resident Evil 3 demo. Either that or I’ll talk about something else. I’ll try it make it cheery.

More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed here are mine and mine alone. Thank goodness for Animal Crossing!