Note: I wrote this at 3am after a 12-hour car ride, and I’m not going to edit it because I’m about to be live on Mixer. So enjoy my weird thoughts.
Don’t worry, this is not another article about how much Microsoft sucks and we should all own anything other than an Xbox. I’ve already said that a billion times and no one is listening so fuck it we’ll all just burn together. This is more about the news that dropped yesterday:
Now listen, I’m still very excited about DOOM Eternal. I don’t think this delay means the game is going to suck by any means. I still think this will be an awesome followup to the 2016 remake that revitalized the DOOM franchise. This blog isn’t about that. It’s about the fact that for what seems like an eternity, all the big games from triple-A studios have released in late Q3/Q4 window to flood the stores with new games to buy for Christmas. But slowly, over the last 2-3 years, that window has shifted to where we are now. I mean just look at this fall’s slate:
- Control
- Gears 5
- Borderlands 3
- Link’s Awakening Remake
- Ghost Recon Breakpoint
- Modern Warfare
- MediEvil
- The Outer Worlds
- Luigi’s Mansion 3
- Pokemon Sword and Shield
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Now to the uneducated eye, that may seem like a solid slate. And let’s not be too unfair; it really is a pretty decent lineup. But then, you take a look at next year’s Q1/Q2 release slate and HOLY FUCK LOOK AT THIS SHIT:
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- The Last of Us II (!!!!)
- Gods & Monsters
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake
- Watch Dogs Legion
- Animal Crossing New Horizons
- DOOM Eternal
- Cyberpunk 2077 (!!!!)
- Marvel’s The Avengers
- Dying Light 2
- Kerbal Space Program 2
- Nioh 2
- System Shock Remake
Normally, who really gives a fuck right? We get awesome games year-round? I mean sign me the fuck up! Hell, about 5 years ago this was my dream! But then I started thinking: which slate of games would I rather have, and why? I mean the first part of that question is easy a hell. I’d absolutely rather have next year’s Q1/Q2, especially since The Last of Us II and Cyberpunk 2077 are going to be the top 2 nominees for 2020 GOTY. But look at the overall quality in games between the two slates. All the fall games are clearly inferior to the game being released next spring. It’s almost like all the developers got together and said “yea, we know that CoD, Battlefield, the sports games, and some Ubisoft sequel are going to be released every fall. Let them have those sales. We’ll take the normally barren Q1.” Now that doesn’t mean that every game next spring is going to be incredible. I mean remember that Crackdown 3 and Anthem (the two biggest busts of the year) were released in Q1 of 2019. But we also got Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Devil May Cry 5 and the Resident Evil 2 Remake in that same window, and nothing has really come close to those titles in terms of quality.
Maybe we’ve just become so accustomed to all the big games coming out every fall that the quality of the fall releases has naturally dropped. Maybe I’m onto something huge that could change the gaming industry forever. Maybe I’ve just eaten too many shrooms, it’s 3 am in the morning, and I need to go back to bed. You be the judge. But I can tell you this: I’m saving most of my money for next spring (no I’m not I’m still gonna buy all this shit because I’m a gaming blogger and fuck. i’m lonely).