- Paradox Interactive has admitted that gamers have higher expectations than before.
- The publisher also acknowledged that fans are no longer willing to accept post-launch fixes for a poor release.
- It intends to ensure that all future releases meet a certain quality bar from day one.
Patches and post-launch updates are crucial to the modern gaming industry. Many AAA titles are often released half-baked today, with developers promising fixes post-launch after making millions of dollars from day-one sales.
However, it’s also true that players now have higher expectations than before. A developer has even admitted to fans losing trust in developers’ ability to fix games with post-launch updates.
Why it matters: AAA releases now cost $70, giving studios no excuse to put out half-baked titles that fail to justify their MSRP.
Publisher Paradox Interactive released Cities Skyline 2 last year, which came with its fair share of technical problems. The studio admitted that this never should have happened and could have been avoided with player testing.
To avoid repeating the same mistake, Paradox Interactive delayed Prison Architect 2 indefinitely. Initially slated to launch in September 2024, the title currently suffers from performance issues and needs more polish.
Elaborating on this decision, Paraod Interactive’s deputy CEO admitted that the decision was made to meet player expectations. Mattias Lilja highlighted that player expectations are higher than ever, and they have limited budgets to work with.
This means that fans want the absolute best quality to get their money’s worth. The deputy CEO also discussed the trend of fixing games after release, stating that fans are no longer willing to put up with this practice.
Fans are less accepting that you will fix things over time.
-Mattias Lilja
Based on Mattias Lilja’s statement, many recent games come to mind, but Star Wars Outlaws is one of the more prominent examples.
Following criticism over bugs and glitches, the team promised to address the major problems through post-launch updates. However, the damage has already been done, and Ubisoft has taken big hits to its market value in the aftermath.
Similarly, games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivors are still being updated one year later, suggesting that the developers could have done a much better job with enough polish ahead of the official release.
As such, it’s easy to see why fans no longer trust post-launch fixes. Here’s hoping this trend encourages studios to release games in more polished states moving forward.
What are your thoughts on such updates? Do you mind waiting for fixes after buying a full-priced release? Share your thoughts in the comments, or join the discussion on the official Tech4Gamers Forums.
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[Senior News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than 5 years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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