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[Markitron]

Anything over a year imo. I believe all games should only be at 1 E3, either as an announcement or the first gameplay. Perfect scenario for me was Bloodborne; announced in June, releases 8 months later. Just the right amount of time to build hype.

 

[benny_a]

The closer to release the better. It means the revealed game is much closer to what it actually ends up being than if they try to sell you a vision or a vertical slice that they don't even know whether or not it will scale to a full game.

This is of course at odds with the marketing campaign that ramp up - so for me "too soon" would be 6-9 months.
That means a lot of games are revealed too soon at the moment.

 

[genbatzu]

If all you have to show a logo, an artsy CG trailer or some concept art then it's too soon.

Bioshock Vita

thank you

 

[DagnastyEp]

Anything more than 2 years from release is too soon.

Yep. 2 years is just too much. I think 8-18 months is the sweet spot, enough time for hype to build, but not to long so it seems like it's forever. Example: E3 2014 reveal, Spring - Fall 2015 release.

 

[ConceptX]

I don't think it should be announced even when development starts nevermind before development starts.

When it's at the point that it WILL be released in the near future with little to no risk of cancellation and work has progressed to a solid degree, then announce it.

Years of hype equals a disappointment.

SE really screwed up with Versus.

 

[TheVoidDragon]

I think when you don't even have anything other than a CGI trailer to show and the game is years away from being shown at all, it's definitely far too soon. I don't see why they announced Cyberpunk 2077, it hasn't even been mentioned since the announcement in 2012.

 

[Huddy]

Cyberpunk 2077. Fuck that "one trailer, radio silence for years" mentality.

At this rate it will be 2077 before it's released.

 

[Filthy Casual]

Cyberpunk 2077 comes to mind

 

[-Cwalat-]

Personally think all devs should hold off on revealing the game until the last 6 months of dev time.

Hasn't hurt COD sales nor AC sales in doing so.

 

[Notor!ousG]

I feel it depends whether it's a popular franchise or a new title.

In your case of Uncharted, I can understand why Sony did this. People weren't sure Uncharted was going to return. Many expected to have The Last of Us 2 instead.

In case of say The Legend of Zelda, it's pretty pointless to just show one image and then release years later. We all know Zelda returns on every console/handheld Nintendo makes.

For totally new games it's different.
You have to have some decent stuff to show to start some interest.

 

[Canis lupus]

The Japanese/SE practice of proclaiming working on a game literally the moment they finish designing a logo is too soon. Or when devs have only boring cgi trailers to show like MS E3 last year, or the edgy Cyberpunk 2077 reveal "coming: when it's ready", should've said "and when it's in actual development".

50% of development must be done before showing anything.

Long development (+4 years). reveal AT MOST 24 months in advance

Games with 3-4 year development: 18 months in advance

Games less than 2-3 years: reveal in less than 12 months (Bloodborne announce to release is just about perfect)


A game should be at 2 E3s max imo. I've already lost interest in The Division and The Witness and start to lose interest in No Man's Sky because they keep showing the same thing. I don't think they've figured out what we're supposed to do in that game. Some established devs/franchises seem to be prone to pre-release fatigue tho. The Last Guardian, FF, MGS, KH.

 

[Chû Totoro]

More than 1 year is useless. Game / product may change a lot, market may change a lot, hype won't stay here forever and it can go to dangerously high levels with no justification which can lead to backslash or/and poor sales.

Step 1 > Hype rise
Step 2 > Sales expectations rise
Step 3 > Game disapoints (most of the time it's still a good game but not the game everyone was imagining since it was just a big collective dream) and bombs
Step 4 > Gamers blame the devs, editors blame the devs
Step 5 > Studio closes :'(

Of course it's not always this but in the worst scenario it is, else it's some part of it.

 

[godofrawr]

6 months should be the max "hype" window pre-release.
The entire entertainment industry needs to break away from the hype culture surrounding major releases of movies, games, books, whatever... Given enough time, people will start to manufacture expectations, and inevitably be disappointed when the "media" finally releases. It also doesn't help that a lot of the time in games, we're being shown target renders, and concepts, a year or so before there's even a real "game" there. This happened with Watch_Dogs, it happened with Destiny... and it will almost certainly be the cast with Uncharted 4, Halo 5, and MGSV. These games can't live up to "our" expectations, because we're being shown/told things about the product that won't/can't be there by the time they launch.

 

[Patryn]

Can you show genuine, honest to God gameplay? Yes? Good, reveal it.

Other than that, no, keep it under wraps.

I think this is a good marker, but I also believe that it can't be prototype gameplay. It needs to gameplay from a game that is in full production, and thus is more likely to be a game this is coming out in the near future.

Ideally, I think it should be at most 6 months from release. I have hope this is what Bethesda is doing with Fallout 4.

 

[Beelzebufo]

I don't think it can be too early for like a "name and logo" announcement, but cgi trailers are bad more than like, uh 5 years before. Beyond Good and Evil 2 was too early.

 

[injurai]

If you didn't reveal in 2006 you're already too late.

 

[GravityMan]

It depends on the type of game. Games along the lines of Battlefield and Destiny need to be announced at least 1.5 - 2 years in advance so that there's time for public betas.

Other games like Mario platformers, DMC-esque hack-n-slashes, and most single player games in general should not be revealed until a confident release window or date is locked down...confident meaning that the game will hit its release target in a finished, un-rushed and polished state (no major bugs). So, anywhere from 6 months to a year before release. Nintendo does a good job of this.

Also devs/pubs, please don't reveal any gameplay footage of your game until you know for sure that the final game can actually hit the graphical target.

 

[Caronte]

No one should announce games before they know if they can actually make it (The Last Guardian and pretty much every single major Square Enix game, for instance).

Unless it's a kickstarter, for obvious reasons.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

Don't ever "reveal" your game without having anything to show. At teaser, a trailer just something. Something more then just a logo. Especially if you work on a new IP.
Uncharted gets away with it cause people know what Uncharted is, but don't announce a new game without showing anything worth showing. Human Element comes to mind.

 

[Neonsands]

I guess I never realized that Persona 5 didn't show anything until a year ago, but fans and magazines pestered and interviewed Atlus endlessly about it. They basically only said that it was in the works, but it didn't stop me from wanting information.

I think by the point where they actually had something, they showed it. That's why we got the chairs reveal with a release period that ended up getting pushed back.

My point, is that in a perfect world I would give them all the time in the world and not expect a sequel. However, some franchises are just too big or too expected and they don't get that luxury.

 

[Sjefen]

1 year

 

[DJIzana]

Don't ever "reveal" your game without having anything to show. At teaser, a trailer just something. Something more then just a logo. Especially if you work on a new IP.
Uncharted gets away with it cause people know what Uncharted is, but don't announce a new game without showing anything worth showing. Human Element comes to mind.

Disagree. Versus XIII had something to show. Now look. 8-9 years later... Still waiting.

 

[gigantor21]

Disagree. Versus XIII had something to show. Now look. 8-9 years later... Still waiting.

It would've been even worse if we didn't know what the game even looked like. All we've seen of, say, Agent is a title card.

 

[Some Nobody]

Anything over a year imo. I believe all games should only be at 1 E3, either as an announcement or the first gameplay. Perfect scenario for me was Bloodborne; announced in June, releases 8 months later. Just the right amount of time to build hype.

Exactly. That's my rule. Someone said we should control ourselves earlier in the thread. No, Publishers should control themselves, and stop telling us about a game aaaaaages before it comes out.

This is my thought process:

12 months out: CG trailer - I don't mind these. I'd prefer some gameplay, but we can start with a CG trailer if you do it right. Use your 3-4 minute trailer to give me a basic idea of the type of game I'll be playing, what the world looks like, what kind of characters inhabit the world, and so on

What's very much not acceptable are "teasers". If you don't even have enough together to show me the aforementioned, nevermind ANY gameplay, you're not ready. I don't give a shit about your black backgrounds with some text overlaid or a voice in the background that lasts all of one minute and pretty much just supplies us with a logo.

9-10 months out: Game play trailer. Anywhere from 2-5 minutes to let players have an idea of the type of game they'll be playing.

5-6 months out: Extended previews. This is where the press gets several hours in the game and we get a 15-30 minute look at gameplay. Fans should walk away from this knowing exactly what the game is, for better or worse.

2 months out: Typical rollout of hype material junk, make sure everyone knows about the game for the release.

 

[TGO]

Final Fantasy and MGS games, but I actually don't mind MGS's two years of hype

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I say within a year or so at most.

A good example is the Souls series+Bloodborne.

Yeah, I agree. Resident Evil 6 (reveal Feb, release Nov), Vanquish (reveal June, release Oct) and Bloodborne (reveal June, release presumably March) are all examples of it being done properly. Publishers can still fit a major trade show or two in over any 6-9 month period of the year (more so if PSX really is becoming annual now), and it doesn't leave fans hanging for months on end nor have the final product be completely different to that which was revealed.

If you have to use a CG trailer to reveal it, it is too soon.

Also, this. If you can't show any gameplay footage and have to pay for a CGI trailer then it's too soon for reveal.

 

[zogged]

I know its not the same seeing as the game is coming out later this year but fucking hell Nintendo, at least have a fucking logo when you announce a game. We've known you've been working on Star Fox since E3 but we have seen nothing of the game. If there is nothing to show your fan base besides saying that you're making the game it's unrealistic to expect people to get excited for your product.

 

[george_us]

Personally I'd rather not know a game exists until it goes Gold. I know that's highly unfeasible given you need a couple of months to launch a decent hype campaign, but at least you wouldn't have to worry about downgrades or missing/cut features that were originally announced.

 

[Sign]

If all you have is a cg trailer and a loose plot scribbled on a napkin - it is too soon to reveal your game.
If after its announcement the first thought to pop in your head when you return to the office is "Oh god, we have to make that T_T" - it was too soon to reveal your game.
If the final package doesn't mirror the first presentation - it was too soon to reveal your game.
If your company is named SquareEnix - it was too soon to reveal your game.

 

[PensivePen]

Realistically I think 6-9 months is the perfect period to reveal a game. 3 months for smaller projects. Anything over a year seems excessive, though with constant fan badgering I can see why publishers and developers might do so.

 

[Cider]

*inserts title of that one SE game*
yeah, that's too long.

I also hate announcement of announcement of secret announcement of secret game too. Those are way overblown >"> surprises always feel much better

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I know its not the same seeing as the game is coming out later this year but fucking hell Nintendo, at least have a fucking logo when you announce a game. We've known you've been working on Star Fox since E3 but we have seen nothing of the game. If there is nothing to show your fan base besides saying that you're making the game it's unrealistic to expect people to get excited for your product.

It's not as bad as SMT x Fire Emblem, which I'm still not convinced isn't vapourware. It's two years since they announced it, and we haven't seen any gameplay footage at all yet.

 

[gunstarhero]

Over a year away (1.5+ years) and I really don't see the point of announcing something.

17bit immediately comes to mind when thinking of devs that should wait a while before announcing stuff.

 

[Will M]

If a game reveal can also announce the month and year of release, then it's never too soon. Its unlikely given the nature of the business but not knowing (MGSV) is torturous.

 

[Peltz]

Mario 3D World was announced at E3 2013 and was released late November.

The "Next installment in the 3D Mario Series" was actually announced many months earlier in a Nintendo Direct. You're correct that the first footage of 3D World (as well as the formal title of the game) debuted at e3 though.

To me, it depends on how high profile the game is and whether it's able to generate enough hype. For example, I don't mind the teasing of information we've gotten on Zelda U to this date because of how ambitious in scope it is as a project.

However, I also think that the quick 6 month turn around in announcement to release of ALBW was appropriate because it's a smaller project in scale.

 

[lewisgone]

Any longer than a year, a year and a half, and I'd rather the announcement was held back, personally. For instance, I'm hoping Retro are working on a new Metroid title, but I'd rather they not announce it until they have some gameplay to show and the game's release date is a safe bet and not a ballpark estimate.

 

[Marvel]

Over a year is a no-no... hell even a year kinda sucks but that's just because I'm impatient for some of my favorite franchises.

 

[BumblebeeCody]

Sooner than the DLC announcement. I hear about th DLC before the game itself these days.

 

[Chastten]

If the game is more then a year away, I don't really need to know about it.

 

[Nightbird]

It shouldn't be present on more than two* E3's.

*Only if the Game comes out within two Months after the second E3.

 

[Mussah92]

playstation HOME

 

[zogged]

It's not as bad as SMT x Fire Emblem, which I'm still not convinced isn't vapourware. It's two years since they announced it, and we haven't seen any gameplay footage at all yet.

I'm still holding out hope that it'll see the light of day. If it does get cancelled I want them to outright say it, not stay silent about it and hope everyone forgets about it.

 

[Myths]

When it's over a year away...

 

[Sami+]

Don't announce your game before its entered full development please thank you

 

[Crossing Eden]

If you have to use a CG trailer to reveal it, it is too soon.

Also, this. If you can't show any gameplay footage and have to pay for a CGI trailer then it's too soon for reveal.

Don't think you guys now how long CGI films are in production or what state games can be in a year before release outside of a vertical slice demo.

 

[ArcaneFreeze]

I like the way Nintendo has been scheduling they're announcement/releases, theyve been pretty good with the "around 1 year" from reveal releases lately.

Windwaker HD - January 2013 -> Came out October 2013
Super Mario 3D World - E3 2013 -> Came out November 2013
Hyrule Warriors - December 2013 -> Came out September 2014
Splatoon - E3 2014 -> Comes out May 2015
Captain Toad - E3 2014 -> Came out December 2014
Majora's Mask 3D - November 2014 -> Comes out February 2015
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse - E3 2014 -> February 2015
Star Fox/Mario Maker/Zelda/Devils Third - E3 2014 -> All slated for 2015 release.

This way theres still plenty of time to get hype but we dont have to wait so long to get our hands on it. And the fact that it gets announced much closer to its release gives more reassurance that what we're seeing is the real deal, usually games announced too early end up going through some sort of change or major overhaul and we dont get what we first saw.

The only real time they fully revealed games that weren't close to being done was when they had that huge January direct in 2013, but im pretty sure that was done moreso just to instill goodwill into WiiU owners who felt like they were getting shafted in the games department at the time, that game drought made Nintendo scramble to give us something we could look forward too.

 

[foxbeldin]

Publishers announce games too early so fanboys can play listwars with them.

 

[Funyarinpa]

I think it is too soon unless the technology and the concept art have developed to a point where the game is substantially and distinctly different from its precedessor(s).

 

[Dabanton]

Personally think all devs should hold off on revealing the game until the last 6 months of dev time.

Hasn't hurt COD sales nor AC sales in doing so.

Agree with this, anything else is just baffling and more often than not is more trouble in the long run, especially if the game then gets delayed.

If you have nothing to really show,keep it to yourself. I don't want to see logos or bullshit CG trailers.

 

[Neo Dark]

I'm still holding out hope that it'll see the light of day. If it does get cancelled I want them to outright say it, not stay silent about it and hope everyone forgets about it.

It's still alive. It was on their earnings report from 3 days ago. The thing about that game is that it probably had a mix of announced too early combined with getting things worked out. Remember that the parent company for Atlus was being sold off and such. So that probably led to some delays.

But yeah for the most part, Nintendo seems to be pretty good with the whole reveal and release schedule. The one that really bugs me though is Square Enix. I just can't buy into their hype anymore.