The Waiting Game: Is gaming in a crisis of time?

We all know games take a long, long time to release now. AAA experiences are requiring bigger budgets, greater worlds, and graphics that try and blow your socks off in a way that no one's ever done before. There are more games than ever and more people are aware of them than ever, meaning competition is fierce, so you can understand why certain titles need polish. But, if you're a fan of a franchise or series that isn't Call of Duty or a sports title, you might as well throw yourself in a cryostasis chamber or get launched to that Interstellar planet where every hour is seven years down on Earth.

"Crying about the GTA VI delay, are we?" I don't know, maybe. I think even without Rockstar tapping the brakes on its hype train, it's still hard to shake the feeling we've slowed to an absolutely sluggish state when it comes to gaming giving fans new entries in a series. Dragon Age fans had to wait a decade before they got The Veilguard, which turned out to be a slap in the face for many. Batman: Arkham fans waited almost the same amount of time to see Rocksteady flounder in a live-service entry that felt like a bad idea for a spin-off from the start. When you look at planned game releases out on a timeline it can make it seem like the years will go by quick, but when you're living through the waiting game, it can be very hard to get excited about anything.

I promise this isn't just doomercore posting about the state of the industry, but when we look at film, for example, The Batman's sequel will (hopefully release) five years after the original film, and that's seen as a titanic wait. That's pretty much the minimum amount of time AAA experiences take to be developed now and this time only seems to be getting longer. This puts an inordinate amount of pressure on developers to get things right, and it confuses fans as they're not sure whether they can criticise something they've wanted for so long. Dragon Age: The Veilguard I think is a phenomenal example, where in most other gaming eras we'd just chalk it up as a bit of a flop but know that means the devs can do better for next time. Dragon Age 2 was no masterpiece to many when it released, but you never thought it was the last you'd see of the franchise because it didn't sell a gajillion units.

There's no space for a stumble, and that's where gaming feels at its most cutthroat right now. Can we really wait another 13 years if GTA VI stinks? Or another 12 if The Witcher IV can't hold a candle to its predecessor? This creates a vicious cycle, where fans feel like games take way too long to make and their excitement drops, but developers also pull back to spend more time adding extra details and content in the hopes they can match the majesty of their past. You'll see one of the greatest games you've ever played come from a studio you were only partly familiar with, and then feel immense heartbreak as they go "cheers for the awards lads, see you in seven years." That's just the way it works nowadays, but it's something gaming should seriously look to cut back on.

That's especially the case if we want big IPs to keep feeling big. When you have to convince a new generation of players to jump on your game at every release, you're going to struggle unless you're absolutely massive. However, this is a boon to new studios and IPs getting their foot in the door. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 felt like the answer to questions we didn't even know we were asking, and it likely wouldn't have had space to flourish if everyone was playing The Elder Scrolls IX, Grand Theft Auto VIII, and The Witcher VI. Real gems get a chance to be discovered because while we're waiting for our next big release, we do need something to play.

Another reason not to lose hope is that there are studios out there churning out titles like there's no tomorrow. FromSoftware is a great example of this, as even if you've not loved their mech action and multiplayer directions of recent years, Elden Ring is still just three years old, and had a game-sized expansion that released last year. The Duskbloods, Elden Ring: Nightreign, and Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon make up a portfolio of recent and upcoming releases that prove FromSoftware might not always be innovating entirely, but is keen to try out new things rather than just sit on its hands spewing out what works. Granted, it doesn't often reinvent its own wheel, but if we want faster releases, we need caveats too. Then there's Nintendo, which just throws out so many new games in a year you'll struggle to keep up if you're a fan of all its IPs. Owlcat Games, too, has so many projects in the works I don't know how any of its employees get sleep.

This isn't to say that there's no point in games taking time. Some tremendous sequels and franchise entries have released recently offering huge improvements from their predecessors. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a vastly superior game to the original, for example. I also think that studios are starting to realise bigger isn't always better when it comes to game worlds and that players are loving the sweet spot of 40-60 hours if they have to beat a "big game" with space for maybe one 100-120-hour campaign each year or so. The 2020s have been defined by ballooning in gaming, and so here's hoping some healthy shrinkage can apply to the size of our games.

To answer my question at the start of this article: no, I don't think gaming is in a time crisis. It might look like it if you only care about a few major franchises, and while it is daunting to know you're likely going to be a decade older than you are now by the time Cyberpunk 2077's sequel comes out, gamers who adapt to enjoying titles from a variety of genres, developers, and more will be greatly rewarded. If from tomorrow it was announced literally no more games were needed to be played, then most of us would be able to spend 100 years going through our backlog or replaying our favourites. So, even if it feels like all is over when you realise you're going to be waiting years for your next Elder Scrolls or whatnot, think instead about all the great games that'll come in between now and then.