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[Danjin44]

Yeah but the thing is, even if I really like those games, I still have another 100+ games that I want to play that are cheaper or that I already own. I'm sure I'll get to the MH Stories games at some point, but I'm not in a rush as I have a lot of other stuff to play.

And hey, there's nothing wrong with getting games day 1 btw, all this is just to answer to your question of "why would I wait?".

Sure if you have other games to play yeah you can play those while wait for price drop....thats smart idea.

The thing for me is I dont have much backblog and that mostly because I usually buy around 10 or less games for entire year and usually finish 90% of the games I buy....so for someone like me there is no reason to wait.

 

[ReBurn]

I skip most games at release and wait until they're finished or their price is reasonable to buy them. No FOMO here.

 

[jshackles]

I always wait 2 Years before i buy a game.
1. Games are 70% off minimum after 2 years
2. Games are in their best state possible after 1 Year.
3. After 2 Years, a lot of quality mods have emerged.

 

[Jesb]

Very rarely buy a game day one. I'll make an exception for the rare release like RE9. Before this I can't even remember the last day one I did. It doesn't make sense to these days with so many options. For the price of a new game you can get 2-3 solid games on sale.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

I always wait 2 Years before i buy a game.
1. Games are 70% off minimum after 2 years
2. Games are in their best state possible after 1 Year.
3. After 2 Years, a lot of quality mods have emerged.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Here's the pattern for modern game releases:

Game comes out at high full price ($70-$100 depending on game/bonuses).

AT THAT SAME LAUNCH

Game is in the WORST state it will ever exist in. Pre patches. Pre balancing. Pre DLC. For all intents and purposes, "full release" basically means "early access."

HOWEVER

If I wait, the game will eventually go on sale and get patched. Meaning it will become both BETTER and CHEAPER.

So am I the only one who now just inherently SKIPS release dates? You're literally paying the most money for the worst product. It makes zero sense.

AND

If I'm NOT the only one falling into this pattern of waiting… what is that doing to the video game industry in general?

The market data does not align with your observation - game revenue is massively front loaded, companies do not get much from the long tail. Which would make you think they would be happy to release a good product and benefit from the word of mouth in a crucial release window. Alas, game companies are not very smart.

 

[ToneyJ]

Remember that while physical is less popular now, it still exists. You can get pretty much any new release for $40-50 on FB markeplace after 1 month. And then sell the game when you're done with it, if its not a keeper, getting most of your money back.

 

[Danjin44]

I also I want to support the devs who makes the games I like.

I'm buying Pragmata day not only because the demo was amazing but also encourage Capcom to make new IPs like this like they used in PS2 days.

 

[Krathoon]

I am always amazed at how dirt cheap some games get if you wait a year. Especially, the indie stuff.

 

[Team Skoda]

The trick is to not lower your game prices ever. It's worked for Nintendo for over a decade now.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The trick is to not lower your game prices ever. It's worked for Nintendo for over a decade now.

Yup. That's called training your customers as a race to the bottom and F2P is worst of it all. And it seems everyone except Nintendo does it. Oddly, you get some obscure Steam indie games that dont dump down prices too much. If you ever search, you can get some niche WWII or sim games who might go down 20-30%. Not 80+% like the big publishers do if you wait long enough.

 

[bender]

Yup. That's called training your customers as a race to the bottom and F2P is worst of it all. And it seems everyone except Nintendo does it.

Not exactly true. While Nintendo has been the most staunch (with 33% usually being their biggest discounts outside of the Ubisoft developed Mario + Rabbids titles), other publishers have set sales floors as well, especially with back catalogues. It's why people always complain about Sekiro only being 50% off or Rockstar's PS2 on PS4 classics never falling below $8.99. A bunch of my Steam wish list never hits historic lows anymore (Sanitarium comes to mind). We've also seen back catalogue/classic games raise in price and not offer as deep of percentage discounts (Sacrifice on GoG comes to mind). There are also oddities like Factorio that launched at a reasonable price ($35.00) with the devs stating the title will never go on sale. It's part of the reason why the fervor around the big Steam sales has died down and why the best days of game bundles seems like they are in the rearview mirror. Not every publisher/dev has learned this lesson (Ubisoft), but more and more are catching on.

 

[Fbh]

The only reason to buy games on day 1 is if you want to support a specific dev or game.

Otherwise yeah, you are paying more for an inferior product and it makes no sense.
I buy like 1-2 games at full price each year, for the vast majority I wait for a sale.

But I don't think it has any big impact on the industry. It's not a new thing, it has been like this for like 2 console generations. A lot of people are just impatient and driven by FOMO so games continue to sell the most at launch.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Not exactly true. While Nintendo has been the most staunch (with 33% usually being their biggest discounts outside of the Ubisoft developed Mario + Rabbids titles), other publishers have set sales floors as well, especially with back catalogues. It's why people always complain about Sekiro only being 50% off or Rockstar's PS2 on PS4 classics never falling below $8.99. A bunch of my Steam wish list never hits historic lows anymore (Sanitarium comes to mind). We've also seen back catalogue/classic games raise in price and not offer as deep of percentage discounts (Sacrifice on GoG comes to mind). There are also oddities like Factorio that launched at a reasonable price ($35.00) with the devs stating the title will never go on sale. It's part of the reason why the fervor around the big Steam sales has died down and why the best days of game bundles seems like they are in the rearview mirror. Not every publisher/dev has learned this lesson (Ubisoft), but more and more are catching on.

The farther we get from an abundant physical market, the more this will spread IMO.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Ehhh.

I buy the majority of games once they're $40 or under.

 

[Juza]

So am I the only one who now just inherently SKIPS release dates? You're literally paying the most money for the worst product. It makes zero sense.

No, you're not the only one. I've been doing this for over a decade. Unless there are solid reports that the game is polished (which is pretty uncommon now), and it's a remake where you already know what you're going to get.
Nothing better than playing the Definitive/Enhanced/GOTY edition with all the expansions included for less than half the price.

 

[Yamisan]

That's right, my friend, that's how it is with Final Fantasy Tactics, for example; it's the same game as the PSP version...

They're doing a re-release, and I'm avoiding it... besides, I already have it on PSP, and I never liked the game.

I'm waiting and considering buying Cronos the new dawn game

I played FFT on ps1 at launch but never on psp . Did the psp version have the amazing voice acting as on ps5?

 

[L*][*N*K]

Everyone has always talked about this, always.

 

[Esca]

I'll buy a game at release that I really want or if I can get it at a very good price. Like Claire obscure expedition 33. I thought the game looked really cool and I was able to pre-order it for like$32. I don't think It even got a sale that low yet.

 

[Inanilmaz]

I'm broke since birth. I always wait till they are under 40€. The last 2 games i remember buying full price day 1 are Yakuza 0 (ps4) and GTA 5 (ps3).

 

[Laptop1991]

Totally agree, there is no point buying day 1 now, unless you have the FOMO, your just wasting money, better to wait for the cheaper, superior version, when most of the bugs are fixed, unless it's Bethesda!, they bring out updates that break 10 years old games, a lot.

 

[Signalis]

Smaller releases I will get day one(because often there is a limited physical print). But 90% of AAA games I wait to buy. I don't play much AAA games though, but I always get them a few months down the line and half the price and often even less.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Yup, the last game i bought full price was RDR2 and that was worth every penny. Ever since then i wait 6 months minimum.

That's right, it's the technique I use too. I only buy the games I'm most interested in... I let the rest drop in value to $19 or less.