Gaming Is UNRECOGNISABLE In 2024
4. No One Trusts Day One Releases
Much as publishers obviously want as many players as possible to buy their games day-one for maximum profits, the value proposition of buying just about any major game on release day has arguably never been lower.
In recent years there's basically been an epidemic of AAA blockbuster games releasing rife with bugs, performance issues, and even effectively feeling half-finished. Most infamously there's Cyberpunk 2077's shambolic launch, and more recently the wonky releases of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and The Last of Us Part I's PC port.
It's clear that publishers would rather release a rough-around-the-edges product on their set-in-stone release day than endure a costly delay and upset shareholders, no matter that it ends up giving the most excited, loyal customers the very worst experience of all.
Unless you absolutely have to play a game day one or are pathologically susceptible to FOMO, there's very little upside to playing a AAA game on release day. If you wait a few months, you'll almost certainly get an objectively better experience, with the aforementioned bugs smoothed out and nagging performance issues patched - not to mention the prospect of additional game modes and free updates.
And the grand irony here of course is that by waiting a few months, you'll almost certainly get the game for considerably cheaper than you would on launch, especially if you're playing on PC.