Is Hype Going to Bring Down the Video Games Industry?

Hype can either be the making or breaking of both game developers and the gaming industry as a whole. There have been many examples involving hype over the last few years that have caused reasonable games to plummet off the face of the earth. I believe the problem comes down to a number of issues which need to be addressed.

The first, and maybe the most obvious of these, is the empty promises that game developers make to the gamers.

E3 is the biggest event in the gaming calendar and it gives the publishers a chance to show off what they have in store for the next twelve months. To do this, they usually take a small section of the game and polish it to high heaven, making it look amazing and promising the people looking on with open mouths that this will be the finished product and it will be awesome.

A really good example of this was Watchdogs. The clip shown to us at E3 showed amazing graphics in a world where anything could be hacked from streetlights to garage doors. I’ll admit, even I was impressed by this and Microsoft had pushed it forward as one of the flagship launch titles for their new Xbox One console.

What we actually got was a game that had been delayed by six months and a totally different version of what was shown at E3. The graphics were considerably poorer than what we first saw, the gameplay was rigid and the driving was poor. However, when the gamers with a bit of know-how dipped into the guts of the game, they found the code for the superior graphics already there. When this became public knowledge, people were understandably upset.

I understand that the market is fierce and for your label to grab attention, your slot at E3 must stand out above all else, but there is a line that they don’t seem to mind crossing on a regular basis.

The only way that I think this can be stopped is for an organisation to step in and regulate what content that the developers shown and ensure they can live up to what they are saying.

The other issue that I believe is a massive factor is the fact that potential buyers of these games are just not doing enough research.

I get the distinct impression that they see the screenshots and gameplay footage of the game and they just jump in, both feet first, without doing any further research in the days leading up to release. Following a developer on social media, signing up to forum’s and even reading gaming magazines is the best way to ensure that the product you are going to spend your money on is what YOU as the gamer want.

Personally, I haven’t bought a new title on release day for some time. Reviewers are paid good money to review these games for us, the consumer, and these reviews tend to be neutral. Reading someone’s opinion who has actually managed to get their teeth stuck into the meat and bones of the game is always a good way to make an informed decision.

Finally, the other issue that is becoming increasingly obvious is that all publishers are looking for the next big thing.

Everyone wants to produce and sell the next big blockbuster like Call of Duty, and the pressure that is placed upon the designers is immense. Perhaps they feel like they need to show us a polished up version of their next release to hook people’s attention. Ubisoft, EA and any other publisher are constantly trying to ‘one-up’ their competitors in the hope that they can produce the hottest thing on the market.

All of these issues are contributing factors why games such as ‘No Man’s Sky‘ and ‘Aliens: Colonial Marines’ bombed on release.

When Colonial Marines was first showcased at E3, people went nuts for it, but the game was soon hit by numerous delays and annoying glitches that made the game feel empty. It still needed to iron out the creases and when you actually think about it, it was just another linear first person shooter.

But in some cases, hype cannot be the sole contributor to a game’s downfall. The developer of No Man’s Sky blatantly lied about the content that would be included in the game on numerous occasion’s and now that the company’s social media networks have gone quiet, we realise that they may have been playing the hype game to their advantage.

So is hype going to bring down the gaming industry?

I’ll let you decide.