How many times do we have to hear an announcement of a game delay?
The Remastered version of Spyro Reignited Trilogy has been delayed to November 13, citing that the game needed more time for quality.
Fans are obviously disappointed due to the last minute announcement and are naturally worried about its final output, but what they have to realize is that game development is difficult. Numerous bugs can appear out of nowhere and it takes an entire team to right even a single wrong.
Having both worked in both online and print publications, I can understand how a delay or an error in one department can affect others departments—a domino effect. Designs will alter frequently to get it right, copies will need to be read over and over again to avoid typos, and audio will be tested for hours on. And even if there’s already a deadline set, there’s always the possibility of delays to ensure quality in control.
A game may be rushed to finish on time, but that can only be noted as the dev team’s loss of desire to create a better game. A well-timed launch without anything going wrong is ideal and even the team wishes this, but it is rare.
As disheartening as it always sounds, especially for a highly anticipated game that tugs at our nostalgia, the choice for a studio to delay its game is a telling of how much passion they’re putting into releasing a game that’s at peak perfection.
Let’s also not forget the infamous Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. The game was rushed to launch during the holidays of 2002, but then suffered numerous bugs and glitches that didn’t make it worth the purchase. Heck, even the audio was so faulty that it rose to annoyance.
Initial sales that were rising ended with players expressing only disappointment, and it became a symbol of the types of games that should have simply stayed in development limbo forever.
So when a game becomes delayed, remember Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. No developer and publisher should allow that to happen again because not only will a franchise lose its loyal fans, but it’s a major blow to the talented artists, writers, and engineers that have worked tirelessly in the hopes of creating a game that will showcase their skills and effort.
When a game is released, that’s it. There’s no pulling it back to fix the bugs found by its players. They only get one shot at it, so it’s best to make it count.
Don’t be sad that a game won’t come out as it originally planned, be satisfied that the teams at Toys for Bob and Activision are doing their best to put out a quality Spyro game. Delays are good for games and they are good for a community that deserves top-notch quality and a fulfilling experience. All they want is to make it worth your money, and you want the same thing.
At the beginning of the article, I asked: “How many times do we have to hear an announcement of a game delay?” — The answer is simple: as many as it takes.