In terms of game release periods, 2015 was an incredible year. Since then, I thought there couldn't be a year like that again. Except after following game news, it seems all my favorite developers are on some sort of synchronized schedule.
I am a disciple of Hideo Kojima. Metal Gear Solid, since I first played it as kid had a lasting effect on the kinds of games I play. I don't play any and every game that's been labelled triple A. MGS V Phantom Pain had been in the works for so long and my excitement for it was so much, I didn't pay any attention to The Witcher 3 which came out 4 months before it. I hadn't played any Witchers before that one, but yet, that game raised the bar for gaming period. Then our darling Fallout 4 also came out. Something I don't even consider to be a game in some ways but an 'experience' and a way of life. All this in one year blew my mind. I didn't have time for them all and together they all lasted me about 2-3 years.
Fast forward to 2019 where Hideo Kojima, Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen have amazed fans once again with a brand new sci-fi world, also Kojima's first new IP since Silent Hill in 1999. We saw glimpses some years before but as time has gone on and we're well into the new year, we've seen longer gameplay footage of Death Stranding and Kojima's studio is becoming more active online and engaging with fans. CD Projekt Red seem to release more information about Cyberpunk 2077 online everyday now since 2019 or at least it seems that way. Their online activity have people more than convinced of a 2019 release as well. Then we have our darling Starfield... ... and that's all we officially know: the name of the game... because, whether we like it or not, this is the philosophy of BGS. Give info when ready for shipping. In my opinion as Todd Howard has already publicly confirmed that the game is 'very playable', there was nothing stopping BGS from showing off extended gameplay footage at E3 and completely stealing the limelight of the entire convention for the whole of summer and beyond, except for their philosophy. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
I'm predicting the exact same order of release. CDPR, Hideo Kojima then BGS in 2019. At the very least, I predict they all come in the same year. I've said it before but I'm really intrigued by the game developers world because Todd knew where the industry was going several years ago, fully aware of the vast competition for Sci-fi. Add Star Citizen and it's single player variant Squadron 42 and you've got more sci-fi than you know what to do with leading us into next-gen. Hopefully it doesn't saturate the experience for us all. There is so much to consider when releasing a game it's actually quite frightening. As much as there are large internal struggles, there are external struggles as well as you think about your competitors and trying to stay ahead as well as avoiding getting left completely behind. That has greater influence on your sales and in a way, it's the competitors that pick your release date, not the developer. Who knows. Maybe it was external pressure (competition) that forced BGS to just dump out Fallout 76, get it out the way and shift the bulk of the studio onto Starfield. We already know that BGS overlap their work so the suggestion that they only began work after November 2018 is completely absurd. Combined with the fact that Todd Howard himself has publicly confirmed Starfield development began 'immediately' after the release of Fallout 4. That's my two pence on it though. As always, it's pure speculation and I might be talking a whole load of nonsense. But I just can't shake the feeling.
TLDR: In 2015: CDPR released The Witcher 3, Hideo Kojima (Konami) released Metal Gear Sold 5 and BGS released Fallout 4. As the first two developers have started becoming more active online in 2019, I'm starting to think these developers share similar release windows and I expect this year to be exactly like 2015 and for their new releases to come out in the exact same order as they did in 2015. They all risk being sandwiched between the Naughty Dog's and the Rockstars of the industry if they wait till 2020-21.
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