# Why are games released here later?....



## Epona (Mar 5, 2011)

OK it's not as bad as it used to be (10 days or in some cases a month later), but why in this day and age do we have a different release date for games in the UK (most of the rest of the world are also in the same boat) than in the US?

It didn't matter so much back in the day before internet fora were so prominent and before a large percentage of people had decent internet access (I don't recall getting worked up about release dates for games like Legends of Valour and Darkseed), but these days people I converse with on gaming forums have often finished (or are at least part way through) a game I am interested in before I have access to it.

I have a feeling that any explanation will be as unsatisfying, or possibly more so, than the sorry excuses banks use when explaining why cheques still take 4 1/2 days to clear.


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## cypher79 (Mar 5, 2011)

yeah i always wondered this too, surely it just promotes piracy?


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## Cid (Mar 5, 2011)

Manufacture and shipping maybe? i.e your factory in China produces 200,000 units in a day, split that over every release are and it's 20,000/country, stagger your release dates and you don't have shops running out on release day.


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## Epona (Mar 5, 2011)

Cid said:


> Manufacture and shipping maybe? i.e your factory in China produces 200,000 units in a day, split that over every release are and it's 20,000/country, stagger your release dates and you don't have shops running out on release day.


 
I just don't buy that I'm afraid!  Using DA2 as an example - it went gold 25 days before the due US release date, that is ample time to manufacture and ship copies, delaying release date in some countries by 3 days is going to make very little difference.  Shops have likely already taken delivery of their stock and have it sitting in the store room, with a few on the shelves to entice people into a last minute pre-order.

Also if that were the case, in the spirit of equity, why not put the US release date back so that it is in line with the rest of the world?  I don't think that having staggered release dates helps with sales in the countries that get it later - by the time I am able to download the game from Steam, I will already have heard about any bugs, found out that it's shit, read damning reviews, and possibly had the entire story spoiled for me - it's more likely to deflate my hype about the game and put me off buying it, than if it were released at the same time.


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## Cid (Mar 5, 2011)

Ah, but you want to do it all at the last minute, if you don't you start racking up storage costs and eating into your profit margins. For hard copies games have region-specific printing as well, so that might be part of it.

Blizzard have always managed it mind you, but it's part of their USP (hate that abbreviation).


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## Kid_Eternity (Mar 6, 2011)

The old excuse they used to use for things like RPGs was it took extra to translate a lot of text into English etc...


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## geminisnake (Mar 6, 2011)

Kid_Eternity said:


> The old excuse they used to use for things like RPGs was it took extra to translate a lot of text into English etc...


 
But the american market will have the english translation too though so that one doesn't wash either.


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## Pickman's model (Mar 6, 2011)

Epona said:


> OK it's not as bad as it used to be (10 days or in some cases a month later), but why in this day and age do we have a different release date for games in the UK (most of the rest of the world are also in the same boat) than in the US?
> 
> It didn't matter so much back in the day before internet fora were so prominent and before a large percentage of people had decent internet access (I don't recall getting worked up about release dates for games like Legends of Valour and Darkseed), but these days people I converse with on gaming forums have often finished (or are at least part way through) a game I am interested in before I have access to it.
> 
> I have a feeling that any explanation will be as unsatisfying, or possibly more so, than the sorry excuses banks use when explaining why cheques still take 4 1/2 days to clear.


 
so that players in the uk can take advantage of the initial crop of hacks and tips when they get the game which people in the us have to figure out for themselves.


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## Kid_Eternity (Mar 6, 2011)

geminisnake said:


> But the american market will have the english translation too though so that one doesn't wash either.


 
Yep hence me using the word excuse. Never bought that my self...


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## Cid (Mar 6, 2011)

But release dates used to be delayed by ages iirc, we're talking about 3 days here. Obviously the translation thing is balls, but three days _might_ be accounted for in shipping and production. Of course in reality it's probably to make our septic friends feel special, but that doesn't really make sense either tbh.


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## Epona (Mar 8, 2011)

Cid yeah you're right - NWN2 came out here something like 10 days after the US release - this was after I started on t'interweb and I remember the 10 days waiting for that game and reading my US friends (and yes I mean friends, as in people I know IRL) talking about it online while I was still waiting - like it was yesterday.

I was hoping that someone would have knowledge wrt marketing or 'exclusivity contracts' that made having a gap made sense in any way whatsoever (even if just to the publisher), but it appears I'm not the only person struggling for a rational explanation of this phenomenon!


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## Miss Caphat (Mar 8, 2011)

profits, I would guess. 

same reason companies do most things they do? 
US is probably the biggest consumer, so they get their shipment first.


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## Epona (Mar 21, 2011)

TES V: Skyrim is getting a simultaneous worldwide release, confirmed by Pete Hines on twitter.  Games are usually released on a Tuesday in the US, but they are taking the unusual step of not releasing in the US until the Friday which is traditionally the last release day for staggered international release, which is what I suggested in post #4 ought to happen.

So at least there is one big company out there doing it fairly, hopefully others will follow.


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