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Gamers outside the US know this annoyance all too well. You get pumped for a game release. You watch trailers, chat on fan forums and social media to get prepared and circle the release date on the calendar in red. But then you find out that date is just for the US…
You’ll have to wait days to play, and now your calendar’s messed up. You can’t just cross off something you’ve circled bold in red—it seems that you don’t understand calendars. Should there be such disparity in the first place?
Multiple Dates for Multiple Countries
Let’s talk about Crysis 2. The US got it on March 22, 2011. Australia scored it on March 24. Europe had it on March 25. Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars followed a similar pattern. The US snagged it March 22. Europe got their hands on it March 25. Australia had to wait till March 30. This mess has fans so puzzled when you Google “lego star wars iii,” the third suggestion is about its release date.
John Walker, who writes for the awesome video game website Rock Paper Shotgun, wants to shake things up. He’s kicked off a petition for moving the UK’s game release day. Instead of Friday, he thinks Tuesday would be better. Sonic 2 started the Tuesday game release trend on November 24, 1992. Sega’s “Sonic 2sday” campaign became a big success. It made Tuesday the main day to launch games in the US. Games used to come out on random days before this. Now, players look forward to new games every Tuesday with excitement. This would match up with when games come out in North America. This isn’t a small feat—high street shops would need to adjust their delivery schedules and rearrange their systems—but he put forward a compelling case for why it’s worth the effort.
Privacy
First off, there’s the issue of piracy. Preventing players from playing a recent title with their friends across the Atlantic is like teasing a starving monkey with a banana but not allowing it to eat. If bananas could be downloaded from the internet, you can bet that monkey would head to its favourite banana-sharing site. While accessibility isn’t the only reason people pirate titles, removing this obstacle makes it tougher for file sharers to explain their actions.
Marketing
Next, think about the marketing benefits. US-led promotions seen by an audience overseas wouldn’t go to waste—they’d become just as effective as domestic promotions. Trailers, media coverage, and ads on websites wouldn’t confuse or disappoint gamers of other places.
Problems with Online Stores
Then there’s the absurdity for digital stores such as Steam, where you can’t click a download button because high street shops only get deliveries once in a week and don’t want to be deprived of sales. PC gamers feel annoyed. They already have a tough time with regular game stores. These shops often ignore PC games. Many local places may not even sell PC versions. This makes it super hard for PC players to get new games when they come out. However, with PC game passes, there is a solution to resolve this problem with you being just a few clicks away from cloud gaming.
Even for console gamers, where the cloud game ecosystem isn’t as developed as it is for PC, the same principle applies. You’re still stuck watching your friends play a new game for several days before you can join them, by that point they’ll likely have gone steps ahead of you. As the cloud game market expands, the infrastructure will already be in the position to solve this problem. Walker questions who gains from this old-fashioned practice. The inception of the internet changed everything. Before, huge bodies of water kept countries apart. But now, the internet erases these lines making oceans unimportant and linking folks around the globe. The old rules don’t work anymore in our connected world.
Time Adapted to New Possibilities
We agree. A decade back, there’s no place for staggered release timing. No reason players should be deprived of new games simply because of where they live. The frustration of waiting extra days for a game release, simply because of geographical location, is a shared sentiment among gamers worldwide.
The disparity between release dates creates unnecessary confusion and disappointment. By aligning international release dates, the gaming community can enjoy a unified and simultaneous experience, fostering a stronger global connection among players.
If you look at other online gaming platforms, like casino sites, they don’t have this issue. New casino games are released at the same time worldwide. You are able to place your bets at a casino on a brand new game no matter where you are in the world. Can’t video games just do the same? We aren’t asking for a lot.
In Conclusion
The logistical challenges of changing release dates are outweighed by the benefits of reducing piracy, enhancing marketing efforts, and simplifying the digital purchase process. Stores on the high street might have to change, but gamers and the industry will benefit in the long run. This makes it worth doing. We should use this to unite gamers worldwide. This way, everyone can enjoy new games when they come out.
