Cognition Dissemination: The Start of 2024 Is Too Busy for Games
Busy release periods are a common occurrence for video games. There are times in the year when developers and publishers see the best opportunities to release their new games, only for them to discover that several other like-minded companies have the same genius ideas. These can make for some of the most memorable seasons for the gaming audience, a time when there are constant games to play. The earliest months of 2017 are constantly referenced for this reason.
Yet, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, which accurately describes January and February of 2024. Several publishers wanted to avoid the usually-busy fall season, with October having plenty of games on offer. But the Q1 has now become the period to dodge. I haven’t seen a season quite like this.
One game after another has been dated for the period. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was among the first confirmed for the period, the release set for February 2nd. This happened after the game received several delays. It was first dated for a vague “2022” release timeframe, then delayed and dated for May 2023, only to be delayed again until its current date. It doesn’t help that the trend of live service games, a lineup this game will join, has largely come and gone during its prolonged development period. This game was going to have a tough time regardless; now it just got harder.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink was another game dated for this period earlier, with a February 1st release date. It’s also another game that’s had a prolonged development period, with the title first being announced for a 2018 release when it was first being made by PlatinumGames. The game received several more delays before it was moved to Cygames’ internal studios. Now, it has too much competition, including from two fellow RPGs from Japan.
Atlus dated Persona 3 Reload for February 2nd about a month ago, at the same time Cygames dated Relink for this period. Having one RPG as competition was already tough enough for the latter, but this got worse when Sega dated Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth for January 26th. Infinite Wealth is the second game in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series that will go full RPG by embracing turn-based action, and being stuffed with a heap of side content. Best of luck to Cygames there.
More baffling is how Sega will have two RPGs competing for the attention of their fanbases in the same period. Sega owns Atlus, an acquisition the former remarkably first announced a decade ago (!!) as of the start of this week. You’d think a publishing company would want to avoid releasing two of their biggest games of the year within a week of each other, but clearly no one knows Sega. The left hand saw the right hand here, and both turned away to ignore each other like high school mean girls. I’d like to imagine that Atlus and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are staring each other down to see which one among them will blink first. Prior sales trends suggest that it’s the Yakuza/LaD game that has to watch out here, with Persona 5 itself selling nearly on par with a big-budget AAA game. It’s even worse that Infinite Wealth is coming only two-and-a-half months after Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. This is too much of a good thing here.
Under Night In-Birth II Sys:Celes and Tekken 8 are two fighting games releasing in this period a day apart, on January 25th and 26th, respectively. Both are worth acknowledging on what would have and could have been a Fighting Games Friday (which will return eventually, I promise). But both games here will be fine. Tekken 8 will attract a large portion of the Fighting Game Community, but don’t underestimate the niche appeal of UNIBII. The previous game and Melty Blood Type: Lumina showed how dedicated the French-Bread audience is, which won’t rest until UNIBII is among the top showcases at Evo.
Capcom also just dated the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy for January 25th, which will include Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Dual Destinies, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Spirit of Justice. Capcom is forgoing a physical release on consoles, like the first trilogy, so I’ll just assume they’re not expecting much from this. But it’s a little too close to the recently-announced Another Code: Recollection for comfort.
The point here, I believe, is clear: This is too damned much for January and February of 2024. Some of these games will undoubtedly get lost in the shuffle, which will lead to pain if they turn out well and find a small-but-dedicated audience that references it as an underappreciated game for years to come. Games that aren’t UNIBII will need more than a small audience to be successful for their publishers. Few will blame any publisher here for delaying their games. This should go double for Sega, which shouldn’t release two of their biggest RPGs a week apart. Come on now.
Time will tell if any publishers blink. Some games here have been delayed so frequently that they wouldn’t dare do so again, particularly Suicide Squad and Relink. There’s also part of me that can’t see the Suicide Squad game being successful at any point of the year in a post Marvel’s Avengers world. If any of them are reading this, and I’m sure they’ve happened upon this popular spot, Sega should totally move Infinite Wealth back a few months to give both Persona 3 Reload and November’s Like a Dragon Gaiden some breathing room. The phenomenon of there being too much of a good thing exists.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
