When it comes to major gaming releases, getting the timing right is key in order to be in the best possible spot against competition and other major releases too – for some games and some genres, in particular, the impact is often much lower, particularly with the likes of these UK casinos accepting credit cards as operators can release new titles at any time, but the AAA market is very different, and poor timing can often make or break a game’s success.
Two major spring releases have already experienced this, and not for the first time for one of them either leading to some arguments within the gaming community and something of a cautionary tale for some to follow – as one of the most anticipated titles of the year and part of a series of extremely popular games anyway, Elden Ring was almost guaranteed to succeed with the only exception being in game-breaking flaws or bugs, which it has mostly seemed to avoid despite some performance stutters and the likes along the way, but by all accounts has lived up to expectations and surpassed them for many too.
On the other side of the coin is the recently released Horizon: Forbidden West as the second game in the series – again coming in very highly praised and rated extremely well, but not enough to beat out the newest FromSoftware title – and leading to some frustration for the developers and criticisms of its rival too but have shown why timing is everything. Horizon’s first release of Zero Dawn had arrived during the Breath of the Wild window, another expansive open-world game and one of the highest-rated games of all time – something tough for the first Horizon to live up to despite its own successes for many reasons. Poor timing would also see Forbidden West release in the same window as Elden Ring, however, and the frustration that comes along with it. Despite being a fantastic game, losing out in sales to Elden Ring has upset one of the developers who have put out a tweet putting the other down.
If the release calendar had been taken into account, comparisons between the two may have been wholly avoided and if anything shows the importance of timing – having two hugely anticipated titles released in the same window will always draw comparisons and split players only looking to purchase one game rather than another with Horizon, unfortunately, falling short once again on this occasion – perhaps they’ll get it right the next time, and may see some other developers pushing back intended releases in the future.
