10 Manipulative Gaming Tactics You Fall For Every Time
6. "Dev Maths" & The Art Of Estimated Playtimes
"Dev maths" is one of the oldest tricks in the book, whereby in pre-release interviews developers will be asked about their game's length and emphatically state an over-the-odds playtime.
News outlets will then uncritically run with this claim like it's gospel and so too will players, forgetting that developers of course have a vested interest to exaggerate how long a game might take you.
Insomniac Games claimed that their PS4 Spider-Man campaign would last 20 hours without side content, when in reality even leisurely players could beat it within 12-15 hours.
That's just one example - A Way Out's director Josef Fares claimed his cinematic adventure game A Way Out would last 6-8 hours, when it actually lasted around 5 hours.
Now, everyone plays games at a different pace, but it's clear in examples like this that developers are exaggerating the average playtime to make their titles seem more value-filled than they actually are.
It makes sense from a business perspective, deceptive though it is, and so in order to manage expectations and avoid disappointment, players should assume that any stated playtime has been exaggerated by at least one-third.