Click through here and take a look at the August release schedule if you haven't already. It's ridiculous. But it wasn't always like this. Not all that long ago, the summer months used to be a guaranteed quiet period. The summer gaming drought was a very real thing, with most publishers opting to launch their titles either in spring or winter. These days, legitimately quiet months are becoming more and more of a rarity no matter what time of year it is.
And so we thought we'd go with a more general poll this Friday. Now that we're deep into what's turned out to be a busy summer, do you find yourself appreciating the fact that more games are choosing to release in June, July, and August? Vote in our polls, and then share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Are you a fan of more games launching in the summer? (118 votes)
- Yes, you can never have too many games
- Yeah, it allows other busy periods to breathe
- Eh, I'm not bothered either way
- Nah, I'd rather work through my gaming backlog during the summer
- No, games should avoid the summer months0%
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Do you play games more during the summer months? (116 votes)
- Yes, I like to stay inside and play games
- Yep, I get time off school/college/university so I tend to play more games
- The time of year doesn't matter, I'm always playing games
- Nope, I use the time I get off school/college/university to do other things
- No, I do less gaming during the summer
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Comments 23
I have no issue when a game releases. I would prefer a more even release schedule as months like October and November can be too busy and lead to some tough decisions. If, like me, you have 4 or more big games releasing in a month, you may have to choose which you buy and which of these will have to wait until after Christmas. Sometimes, that can also end up meaning that you are always looking forward and then these games you missed out on rarely get bought because you are 'saving' or 'buying' the 'new' releases. It happens a lot for me...
October this year has 4 big games I want and 2 in November - along with new Hardware - that's around £700 in two months - assuming you only buy the standard editions and not any of the Season Passes or limited edition versions - like I have done with Destiny 2. The last 'new' releases I bought were Horizon:ZD (limited Edition) and Mass Effect. It would have been nice if some of the winter games were to release earlier. That being said, what's MOST important is to release a game when its 'ready' not rush it out to meet the 'holiday' season deadlines or sit on it for months to hit a certain window either.
School dramatically reduces my game time, so I have to pass up games. But in the summer, I can actually play the games I want to play.
I'm a fan of more games being released
I've always thought it's stupid the release schedule being centred on three months of the year and I'm glad we're moving away from that. There's a place for games all year round IMO, so I'm all for more summer releases (though selfishly a break would help me clear my backlog).
I am but my consoles aren't. Those fans are always in hyper mode during the summer, even in the north west of England.
I think the packed release schedule doesn't work for games in the way it does for TV/Music/Movies etc.
Games take a long time to play/master so inevitably you have to choose what you want which I think risks more flops.
I remember back when I was at school and it came to the school summer holidays I spent half my time playing games and the other half playing outside with friends. That was 20 to 25 years ago, if I was at school now I would want want to catch up with my backlog, I don't think it's the amount of games being released or what time of year that is the problem it's how big most of the games are nowadays 20 to 40 hours to complete compared to the ps1 days of a couple of hours most games
I much prefer a spreadout release schedule to allow time to play those games that I might otherwise miss (@get2sammyb get on persona 5 ). It always seemed daft to release all the big.titles in October through December and im glad we are moving away from that.
However there is a problem now that gaming has become such a popular past time that there are simply too many games at all times of the year now. I cant remember the last slow period we had. Just looking at this year ; the spring was ridiculous on playstation. And with such a vast wealth of quality titles releasing it is impossible to keep up. That means that gems like gravity rush and nier automata have so far been overlooked and unpurchased until such time I have time to play them. With the cost of developing games these days, this runs the very real risk of titles not making back their development costs and studios going out of business, or promising franchises being abandoned - which seems to be happening more and more these days sadly.
Genuinely, if I were not to buy another game all year, I still would hardly dent my insane backlog.
I love having games spread out through the year. Late fall and Holidays are always packed tight with games, so spreading the exclusives out makes sense and keeps my games fresh.
I much prefer releases to be spread out. Breathing space is good for gamers & developers.
This month is stupidly good for me:
-August 8th, HellBlade
-August 22nd, Uncharted TLL
-August 29th, Yakuza Kiwami
HYPE!!
Years ago I would buy a game and play it right away - so the summer drought would always be a time when there wasn't anything new to play. I'd just replay games instead, though playing new things is almost always preferable.
As soon as I started having more money and buying multiple consoles and handhelds I began amassing a backlog. Although it is always being added to, in order to get through it I resolved to not buy games full-price at release unless it's something I'm exceptionally looking forward to. I'm now always playing something throughout the year, release drought or not. More game releases are always a good thing and considering I'd wait for price drops on most occasions anyway, it's not like I'm getting swamped.
By contrast if I was a Nintendo-only gamer I think the droughts would drive me mad.
@mookysam So true, because I want Odyssey and Xenoblade 2 to come out right now..
I'm always busy with work and school cause of my dual major and internship so the time of the year doesn't matter for me in terms of game time. Im used to having small amounts of free time.
Splatoon releases on summer so yay.
I can wait on all August games (of which I only care about 3 of them) so backlog time.
I certainly don't mind. I hole myself inside during summer since I can't stand the Texas heat. This just means there's something to look forward to, so you could say this summer I'm "having a blast".
Release more games like shadow tactics and I'm for it
Yes I absolutely am. It should be treated just like movies, where summer brings the big blockbusters and fall/winter brings the oscar-worthy films.
Usually there's a weird lull after E3, but this year has gone down amazingly well across several platforms.
There are always rainy days, so it's nice to have fresh games to play on them.
im up for games coming out whenever they can its good that the specific time scale is starting to go away
helps being English that our summers are so hit and miss that we might not have to have a lull in activity
Just release games whenever. I'm flexible.
In my opinion, if it's ready, release it.
That said, despite the number of games releasing this month, there are only 2 I'm interested in.
Wheres the "im a fully grown man and have been gaming since i was 7 and no i dont have more free time in the summer, work gets busier" option? As long as there are quality games being released who can really argue against it?
It makes a lot of sense to release games when a large demographic can play them without worrying about other stuff.
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