Stick to Release Dates
2016 was a pretty great year to be a PlayStation fan. With the releases of Uncharted 4, The Last Guardian, all of the third-party titles releasing alongside the exclusives, and some fresh new hardware to play it all on, there was plenty to look forward to. Of course, players missed out on experiencing Horizon Zero Dawn in 2016 after being pushed into an early 2017 release window. But the problem didn’t stop there. Even with the games that did release in 2016, the PS4’s exclusive lineup, in particular, suffered pretty heavily from delays. Uncharted 4 was pushed back about a month, No Man’s Sky saw a two-month delay, and The Last Guardian did, too.
While there’s always the argument that a delayed game is better than a lackluster experience, there’s also the argument that release dates are being attached to titles far too early in order to appease shareholders. Such is the case with titles years away from releasing being shown at major industry shows such as E3. As we move into 2017, Sony’s primary focus should be on nailing down release dates for its major exclusives, and sticking to them.