Release dates are only malleable and changeable when you're a huge studio working on a huge title. Valve have still not announced Half-Life 3, because they know they don't have to until they're good and ready, and people will still buy it. Similarly, Batman: Arkham Knight has been delayed for almost a year at this point, but the series is such a hit gamers will buy it anyway. And yet, for the most part, release dates are otherwise taken as sacrosanct, written in stone and impossible to change. The immediate reason for this is because game studios are a business, and businesses predict profit margins and the like so they can better plan for their future, and the future of later games they plan to develop. So, release dates are important because, if not, it messes up the business. But the way it messes up is that people will be less likely to buy a game that's been delayed, which is an attitude that comes from the games-buying public. Which is why you end up with titles like Assassin's Creed Unity, which shipped with so many game-breaking bugs.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
