Fact or Fiction: Are Huge Bugs at Launches Hurting Games the Rest of the Year?

[Steve_OS]

For what is the 1053th time (unofficial count), a game has launched with major bugs. And...

Written By: Operation Sports

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[Eyeman79]

Makes you wonder how we survived before the 2G day zero patch. Imagine if a patch fixed the money plays in Tecmo  Bowl or Baseball Stars or early Madden games. Most releases are betas and the devs just want to see what gamers are complaining about the loudest and then fix those first I think this speaks to the yearly cylce of most sports games and the pressure to meet deadlines. Makes the argument for bi-yearly releases ( but of course that will never happen)

[Retropyro]

Re: Fact or Fiction: Are Huge Bugs at Launches Hurting Games the Rest of the Year?

Not saying this would fix all problems. But I've wondered why these major sports titles only have one development team. Games like NBA 2K, Madden, FIFA are big enough that I'm shocked the publishers don't use alternating studios so they can release an annual title to full-fill their contracts, but essentially give each studio a 2 year development time.

[drugsbunny]

Re: Fact or Fiction: Are Huge Bugs at Launches Hurting Games the Rest of the Year?

I wonder if they do it on purpose to hinder have cracks. I am one who now waits a few weeks before purchasing. I wish gaming sites would give fans reviews after patches to update us on if the patch made the game better or worse. I am still playing 19. I may not get 20 until next month.

[badmrfrosty7]

Kicking meter glitcb

[Drty_Windshield]

Re: Fact or Fiction: Are Huge Bugs at Launches Hurting Games the Rest of the Year?

I'm a PC gamer first and foremost, although I love MLB The Show, but having said that I've all but given up on PC games because everything released is released half arsed nowadays. If games do come to full fruition it seems like it takes forever for that to happen and by the time it does I've already moved on to the next thing.

[kjjnesb]

I've been on the boards saying this till I'm blue in the face....

But with 2k... the fact that team options STILL don't work as of this post nor are we even see able in the team/player option menu and the whole free agency period is bugged (things that worked fine last year) or the fact that team expansion with more than 2 custom teams ruins your save file (glitch is 3 years running btw) give me pause on when or if I actually move on from the previous years edition of 2k going forward. 2K20 myleague is basically the same mode as last year with more bugs but no one speaks up about it so the mode just sits there buggy as hell. This is not even accounting for the stuff that's been fixed so far.....

I understand there must but an insane amount of stress and crunch when it comes to making sports games and software can be fickle but sometimes but it feels like they polish these games up just enough for reviewers that they know will only review the surface level. Like every year we see these reviews and it's like they play maybe an hour of each mode and they go  "yeah checks out   new feature is cool here's a 7/10 or whatever" all while not seeing game ruining bugs. Maybe it's the suits at the top putting the devs in rough spots like this demanding shiny marketable features trailers and good reviews at specific time of year but something needs to change next gen.

[eye guy]

I havent played a second of 2K20 but in general, the answer is yes.

We can go on and on about gaming being a money making business with with micro-transactions and what not, but we're in an age where  this has become widely acceptable by the casual, pre-teen gamer who knows a band-aid that works half the time, is to follow, and we the end user can be half to blame for games being released with glaring issues because of patches.

Tell me, 15-20 years ago, how many AAA titles across all genres needed patches on release? During the duration of a games release?

Many have asked for 2K NBA to be an annual release, this should be taken on board imo.

[Scribe1980]

A game should ALWAYS work competently out of the box. Always. Otherwise you are ripping off the consumer's 60 bucks. No excuses.

Now, I predate the  Net and there was nothing more frustrating than a broken game in the day, before patches were a remedy, But this "forget it, we'll patch it later" attitude is turning many older gamers like myself off to the entire pursuit. Have done more retro gaming last couple of years than ever, with many of my PS4 titles gathering dust. The worst patches are the ones that fundamentally alter the gameplay of what you purchased out of the box, in subservience to the UT/DD crowd. I'd like to see SDS go to gameplay tuners next year, somewhat like NHL has now, so I can avoid franchise-altering bad patches in the future. I'm not techy enough to know why games play differently online v. offline, but the  status quo is unacceptable.

[Scribe1980]

Re: Fact or Fiction: Are Huge Bugs at Launches Hurting Games the Rest of the Year?

Also, inserted asterisks after the word "the" are rather strange. Not me.

[BA2929]

Can we stop acting like $60 for a video game is a lot of money? Because it isn't and hasn't been for 20+ years.

[Scribe1980]

Re: Fact or Fiction: Are Huge Bugs at Launches Hurting Games the Rest of the Year?

Can we stop acting like $60 for a video game is a lot of money? Because it isn't and hasn't been for 20+ years.

Presumptuous. Glad $$ is no issue for you.

[tril]

Re: Fact or Fiction: Are Huge Bugs at Launches Hurting Games the Rest of the Year?

I think these games just need to be released later rather than sooner.

there is no reason to release NBA2k this early. the preseason doesn't even start till the beginning of October.

and the early releases via EA access I think also hurts their product.

Also theses companies need to invest more in SQA/ game testing. or rethink the way they test games.

In addition, the issue with a number of bugs on release isnt just relegated to the gaming industry..
The ease and the amount of time it takes to update a title has afforded these companies the ability to rethink in what conditions they release titles. it no longer takes alot of time to download and install patches.

I think all of this is just part of the new norm in the software development cycle.

[Bullit]

Re: Fact or Fiction: Are Huge Bugs at Launches Hurting Games the Rest of the Year?

I kind of feel this whole trend towards the day one patch and pushing out "broken" (I hate that term) games will eventually hurt the industry as a whole.

There is a group of people out there, myself included, that are just done spending full price on games. I mean for me it is a question of why? Why should I buy a game at launch that may or may not work? Why should I by a game at launch that will need so many patches to be playable or will have so many patches that game play will change several times over a release. Why should I buy a game at launch that is just an updated roster or version of last years game? Why should I pay full price at launch for a game that will be anywhere from $10 to $20 cheaper in 3 to 4 months? Or even better yet lets wait for the Game of the Year addition that will have all of the DLC and Patches and be $40 dollars cheaper.

I have not played Madden or NHL this generation. I have not played NBA since '17. I, personally, have seen no reason to spend $60 on any of them. I am a big MLB fan. But again next year I am not buying on launch. I really like '19 and by the All Star break it is $40 and it will have been patched 10 times.

I understand folks and the need to have the newest, best and brightest. But there will come a breaking point where the market will not sustain itself and it will happen slowly and quietly. Because the majority of the market doesn't complain.

They just stop buying.

[ToughJuice]

Fiction.      

forgotten by gamers within a couple of weeks

Whats forgotten is the game itself. Whats remembered is the disastrous launch and the lowered reputation of the developers. NBA 2k used to be a day one purchase, then every other year, to now, where itll be ignored until the next gen console releases can possibly redeem them.