[gtranslate]
Clocked

The great gaming delays of 2021 begin with ‘Hogwarts Legacy’

Hogwarts Legacy has just been formally delayed till 2022, representing what could be a mammoth shift in the mentality of the gaming development world.

Since the start of the gaming boom when Tomohiro Nishikado was coding Space Invaders with pen and paper in 1977, the crunch has been real. Huge effort now goes into making games like Hogwarts Legacy and it takes its toll on the teams behind them.

The delays we’re seeing now could be a swing back against the corporate trend of companies trying to squeeze their teams to do more work, in less time, with less people.

Hogwarts Legacy Delay Announcement

Cyberpunk 2077, for all the disappointment that the release may have caused, is going to be a defining moment in gaming history. The community behind and around it were all openly displeased with the final product. The only cure to this would’ve been more time.

Gaming has always been big business – it’s incredibly successful and provides joy to consumers and phenomenal amounts of money. This means, inevitably, people who know business and nothing about games make decisions that impact us all.

So, rejoice in the delays, revel in them. Dance in the rain of our waiting, it means that people are taking the time to do it right. We’ll still be here to play it when it’s done, just when it’s done right.