Most Games Aren’t Worth Playing at Launch Anymore

A long time ago, during the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/Wii era of gaming, I’d line up outside of EB Games — the Canadian version of GameStop — at midnight for just about every major release. I would then play into the early hours of the morning, regardless of whether or not I had classes or one of my several part-time jobs to attend that day. I have fond memories of nearly shaking with excitement with a copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in hand, and I don’t think I slept more than a couple hours a night for an entire week after Halo 3 dropped.

Now, over a decade and a half later, I skip the biggest releases until months after they launch because waiting for a patch or three has quickly become the best way to play most games. And more than any other year, 2023 has proven this true.

Originally released back in April, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was one of my most anticipated games of the year — I even wrote about how Star Wars needs more games, not TV series — but it released on the PlayStation 5 unable to handle 60 FPS in performance mode, and the less said about the PC release, the better. It took until September for Respawn to release a patch that fixed this and turned off ray tracing, which was when I picked it up. Early adopters had to deal with choppy gameplay, while I’ve so far had an almost perfectly smooth experience slicing up Stormtroopers and Battle Droids.

Even critically acclaimed games at launch aren’t guiltless. I’ve put about 90 hours across multiple characters into the first act of Baldur’s Gate 3, yet from what I’ve heard of the latter two acts, I’m best served experimenting with new builds and waiting for another handful of patches before continuing to the Moonrise Towers. Karlach, one of my favorite companions, got a more satisfying, reworked ending, for instance. Larian Studios has doled out a commendable number of little patches to make the experience better all around, such as the addition of a magic mirror to alter your character’s appearance. What other quality of life features will I miss out on if I don’t wait? I am, after all, not going to finish Baldur’s Gate 3 more than once.

Related: Baldur’s Gate 3 – Zero Punctuation

I’m currently sitting on Starfield not for Bethesda to release patches, but rather for 2024’s modding tools to drop. I can’t imagine playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim without the UI and map overhauls that dedicated modders created, and from what I’ve seen of Starfield’s inventory and map screen, I’m going to feel the same way once some must-install mods drop for Bethesda’s latest massive RPG. Todd Howard recently said that the explorable planets used to be much more punitive, making for a more hardcore experience — which I would enjoy — before the team scaled them back. I have a hunch modders will jump on this fact, making exploration more challenging. I’d rather play that version of Starfield — even if I have to wait another year.

I have, of course, played a few games at launch regardless: after the nightmare that was Diablo 3’s launch, Diablo 4 released in a great state, surprising many, but I would’ve waited to hear the general consensus if it wasn’t my job to write about adventuring through Sanctuary. And first-party Nintendo games (not you, Pokemon), such as Tears of the Kingdom, almost always release in a pristine state. In fact, I’d argue that Nintendo is currently the only developer I trust at launch. Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a day one pickup for me, yet I’ll peruse a review or two before I grab Spider-Man 2, which releases the same day.

Even if Mario trips over a Koopa Shell and Spider-Man web-slings into a building out of the gate, I have Cyberpunk 2077 to finally play. With its 2.0 update, it finally seems like the game it was meant to be. I feel for all those who already played through Cyberpunk 2077. You can’t erase your memory of your initial experience, yet I can enjoy it at its best for the first time.

I no longer see a future for gaming where this isn’t going to be the case. The last time I pre-ordered a game was Tears of the Kingdom, and before that I can’t recall. With how much developers and publishers brag about their launch sales, I have little hope this will change, and that’s okay — I’m alright with waiting to play most games. Still, I hope the last bastion of stable launches — Nintendo — doesn’t fall to the dark side. If they do, I blame all of you who picked up Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Cyberpunk 2077 on day one.