Uncharted 4 has been delayed so many times at this point that it has sort of become a running joke. It’s also been a part of a larger trend of Sony’s first party games never quite managing to hit their deadlines on the PlayStation 4. Speaking to Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Securities who is well known for his opinions, I decided to bring up the multiple delays Uncharted 4 has suffered- maybe the last delay the game received had something to do with Ratchet and Clank, another PS4 exclusive set to release in April?
“Well, Ratchet and Clank is going to be completely unrelated to Uncharted, except if Sony feels that the timing of both those games’ releases could drive sales differently,” Pachter said. “I mean, I don’t- they have different audiences, so I don’t think it would make much of a difference. I’d sort of understand if both games were launching the same day- but launching a week apart, they can still manage the promotion, and, you know, i think that parents with children under the age of 12 are the ones who would be buying Ratchet and Clank, while the parents themselves, or teenaged gamers, would be the ones getting Uncharted. So I think it’s a different audience, and I don’t think it matters as much if they launch on the same day, so I’d say no, the delay has nothing to do with the launch of Ratchet.”
Could the delays, then, indicate the game having development problems of some sort?
“Of course, there are development issues,“ Pachter said. “I wouldn’t say there are problems, you know, it could be as simple as the Naughty Dog guy deciding they want to add to the game, or they ran into something that wasn’t the way they wanted it to look, and they had to fix it. And that’s not necessarily a problem. I think that one of the things that’s kind of refreshing about Naughty Dog is that their game quality is extremely high, and we as consumers tend to forget that, and act like they just get everything perfect on the first try. I’d say that it’s more remarkable that their games so far have come out on time. So, when there’s a crack in their armor, a chink, and they don’t get the game out exactly the day that it’s expected, people start looking for excuses. But it’s entirely possible that this game is just so ambitious that they didn’t give themselves enough time to try and meet their goals. So now, it’s taking them an extra few months to make the game perfect.”
That said, though, Pachter said that he believes fans will enjoy the final product greatly- Naughty Dog have never disappointed yet.
“I think you will end up being quite delighted with the final product, and I don’t think the delays make any difference to anybody in the world, except for maybe some very hardcore gamers. I’m sure Uncharted 4 will be great- Naughty Dog just do great work.”
So there you have it- Pachter does not feel that the Uncharted 4 delays will amount to, well, anything much in the long run. I am inclined to agree with him.
Uncharted 4 is set to launch exclusively on PlayStation 4 this May.
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