Unfortunate news has come yet again. Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed. Honestly, I’ve lost count of the delays, but the grand scope of the title, and developer/publisher CD Projekt Red’s dedication to perfection, are warranting this. What isn’t warranted, though, is the mandatory crunch to get the game on store shelves. It’s borderline abuse and bemoans the work/life balance of the hard-working employees that get one day a week away from their screens. So, are game delays worth it?

My opinion is yes and no. Reggie Fils-Aimé’s has a timeless quote for video games: “If it’s not fun, why bother?” This can be applied to so many struggles within the game industry, and contributes to why some games get delayed. If the creators don’t like it, why would anyone else? Publishers set specific dates based on sales expectations/fiscal budgeting, so they aren’t always fans of pushing games out of their release timeline either; however, sometimes it’s better to do so than release an unfinished project.

Sadly, for consumers, it is a rough go of it either way. If a game isn’t delayed and is released before it is completed: it will undoubtedly have bugs, an incomplete story, a rushed narrative, or several other issues keeping it far away from the desired outcome of both the dev and the player. If that game gets delayed but turns out better, they have to wait weeks, months… even years, before it sees the light of day.

Thankfully, the majority of gamers have a backlog, plenty of which are sizable enough. These can keep them occupied while they wait for the delayed game to release, no matter how much they’re anticipating it. Personally, I’ve got a backlog that will take years to get through, so I’ll never whine about having to wait for a delay for that reason. However, I really do not approve of crunch, the “necessary evil” in getting a game sold.

There are no two ways around it: Crunch is atrocious. Forcing employees to work to the point of exhaustion, separating them from their families, and not giving them payment for being overworked, the list goes on and it doesn’t improve. To make a deadline shouldn’t require working a team until they can’t think about anything other than the game. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, but it’s happening right now in game development studios across the world and will continue to happen so long as there’s a release date that isn’t easy to make.

Game delays are incessant, annoying, and aren’t going away. They’re “necessary” but need better execution so that crunch is avoided, and the game can still make the company the heap of cash they want. Most modern games aren’t in perfect shape on launch and require patches later on, but let’s ensure that the developers aren’t pushed to the limit. Here’s hoping Cyberpunk 2077‘s team gets their due and gets a nice long vacation after launch; because the latest message indicates they’re about to endure even more crunch ahead of the current release date of December 10th, 2020.

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