Witcher III: The Wild Hunt Is Perfect In Development and Upon Release

It has been years since I got to explore the world of The Witcher. But, on May 19th, after five years of waiting, it launched. Critics have praised the game, and it has even been awarded Gamespot's seldom-given perfect score.

This is, deserved. But not for game's intrinsic quality, even though that is enough to merit high praise. The way, however, that CD Projekt Red handled the release of the game was reminiscent of a lost era in gaming.

With tight deadlines, you seldom see a highly publicized title delayed or given the time it needs to achieve its potential. And that does the industry a disservice.

When CD Projekt Red announced the delay last winter, it was to the gaming community's disapproval. It was expected to launch in 2014, and, in 2013, it even topped the charts of most anticipated titles for the next year.

Upon its delay, CD Projekt Red posted a lengthy apology on their site, stating that they would make up for the inconvenience. They did.

What has the gaming community learned from this? Well, most likely, nothing. But they should learn patience; too many games launch without proper attention, and volume of games is valued more than quality.

In the mid-2000s, fans were anticipating the release of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. When it released, however, it was to the disappointment of fans. The game felt...

incomplete. It was later revealed that Obsidian had to get the game out for holiday season, and the game was rushed into stores.

There were efforts to mod the game and bring out some of the features that were lost in its hurried production, but that shouldn't be necessary.

In addition, can you imagine how much better the Assassin's Creed franchise would be if they took this approach? Instead of multiple glitch-ridden games per year, we would get one beautiful game every 3 or 5 years, and they would be generation-defining--just like the first two games in the series were.

I'm a gamer too.

And I was disappointed when The Witcher III was delayed, but then I reasoned through my instinctive reaction and realized that it would be likely be a good thing for the game--if not for the entire culture of the industry.

Am I being idealistic? Yes, absolutely. But it's too often that I see a game's potential unreached because developers aren't given enough time. Fellow gamers, let's not be so eager to get our hands on future titles.

As attractive as the next big game may be, withhold your demand for it; publishers would feel less of a need to satisfy fan demand. We would have fewer games, but they would be better.