There was a time when a new release would be cause for excitement. Or at the very least, inspire an emotional response in the vicinity of something resembling anticipation. Perhaps it’s my age, the natural procurement of cynicism that develops over the years. But I find there is a seldom excuse to be euphoric about an industry that is either derivative or exploitive. Sure there are the occasional outliers that rouse some furtive joy, buried below the rigours of disillusionment. The thought of playing a new GTA does generate a beat or two through my ragged and darkened heart. But it’s evident from the current gaming climate that it’s an industry strangled by the pervasive tyranny of financial greed, the subsequent stagnation of creativity and the aggressively demanding needs of consumers. There are still great games being created by indie developers, keen to remind gamers of this once eclectic medium. But it’s the prestige triple A games that have suffered most.

There was a magical period in franchise gaming, when a new release was almost annual. Though consecutive releases such as “Assassin’s Creed” proved that this model was wholly unsustainable, there was an abundance of quality produced. Each subsequent release of “Ratchet & Clank” for instance was either as good, if not better than the preceding entry. You also have to consider that between 1997-2004 Rockstar released 5 mainline GTA games, as well as a litany of spin-offs scattered around them. Since then, a mere 20 years later, we’ve had 2 mainline entries in the series. With V, originally released back in 2013, having been upgraded twice since, has been rereleased across 3 separate generations! And though GTA VI has finally been announced, this isn’t likely to be released before 2026. 13 years after V! It’s been the same teenage years since the initial release of “Skyrim” and “NaughtyDog”, a once prolific game studio, has been reduced to remastering and now “remaking” their two “Last Of Us” titles.

Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with taking your time to perfect and fine tune your games. “A delayed game is eventually good, but a bad game is forever bad”. Though this famous quote attributed to Mario’s Miyamoto is now disputed, the point does still stand. I’m also not oblivious to the advancements in graphics that has certainly contributed to the escalation in time to create these complex games. But it’s clear that there is not only a paucity of ambition, but also far less emphasis on consistency. Of course it’s not viable for games that are so much more complex than they were two decades ago, to be released with the same frequency. But it would also be nice if we didn’t have to wait 20 years between Elder Scrolls games. Because at this rate, I might be dead before the Elder Scrolls VII is announced, let alone released!

Do you think games take too long to release? Let me know in the comments below. Cheers.