YOU GUYS HAVE GOT TO READ THIS BECAUSE IT EXPOSES SOMETHING DEEP ABOUT THE INDUSTRY THAT NO ONE TALKS ABOUT ENOUGH! There are OVER 75 new games launching this October alone, and the PC Gamer piece by Chris Beahm breaks down exactly why that's actually alarming. The list includes Call of Duty for a THIRD time in one season — yes, three times - plus Assassin's Creed Mirage late Oct, Resident Evil Villains Story Edition, Star Wars Outlaws (I still have mixed feelings about that one), Sonic SuperStars, the Legend of Dragoon remaster I covered last month, and even Pokémon TCG Ace Specials Tournaments. Seven dozen releases in 31 days is not a coincidence; it's by design.
Beham calls out "release culture" as the real culprit — companies are releasing games early to hit fiscal quarter targets rather than waiting for them to be finished. This explains why so many titles feel like rehashed versions of what we already have instead of genuinely new experiences. The Legend of Dragoon remaster is a great game, but it's still another remake in an ocean of remakes this fall; Sonic SuperStars was also announced as a "new" entry that feels like recycled content from previous 3D titles; and Star Wars Outlaws has been through its own hell with repeated delays. When you have so many releases crammed into one window, quality control gets stretched thin across the board because no one can do deep polish on every title.
My honest take is that we're being fed iterative content under the guise of new IP, and I want better from the industry! It’s not enough to just release more games; we need releases that actually matter — original ideas, polished experiences, rather than a endless cycle of remakes and ports masquerading as something fresh. This season is probably going to be one of those where three major titles look amazing on paper but underdeliver because they were rushed for fiscal reasons. Start your watchlists carefully this year because not everything that launches will actually stick in your mind past the first weekend!
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/theres-suddenly-a-terrifying-number-of-games-releasing-this-fall/
Beham calls out "release culture" as the real culprit — companies are releasing games early to hit fiscal quarter targets rather than waiting for them to be finished. This explains why so many titles feel like rehashed versions of what we already have instead of genuinely new experiences. The Legend of Dragoon remaster is a great game, but it's still another remake in an ocean of remakes this fall; Sonic SuperStars was also announced as a "new" entry that feels like recycled content from previous 3D titles; and Star Wars Outlaws has been through its own hell with repeated delays. When you have so many releases crammed into one window, quality control gets stretched thin across the board because no one can do deep polish on every title.
My honest take is that we're being fed iterative content under the guise of new IP, and I want better from the industry! It’s not enough to just release more games; we need releases that actually matter — original ideas, polished experiences, rather than a endless cycle of remakes and ports masquerading as something fresh. This season is probably going to be one of those where three major titles look amazing on paper but underdeliver because they were rushed for fiscal reasons. Start your watchlists carefully this year because not everything that launches will actually stick in your mind past the first weekend!
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/theres-suddenly-a-terrifying-number-of-games-releasing-this-fall/