Over-Hyping a Game Before Release can Severely Disappoint Player Base

Everyone loves to hear about a new game coming out, especially when all the teaser trailers and cinematics that the publishing company releases tantalize and touch a player's fantasy.  But too much hype can be a bad thing; and hype that is poorly directed / advertises non-existent features can completely ruin the reputation of the developers and publishing company.

## **Examples**

### **No Man's Sky**

This game was hyped on to an almost excessive point.. and yet when the game was released it disappointed the majority of those who pre-ordered it.  The game was NOT what it was hyped up to be.  A large porition of the features advertised didn't work as player's expected.  Additionally, some of the hyped features didn't exist!

Because of this, Hello Games has received a major reputation hit and it is unlikely they will ever have the turnout of this level again for a game they produce.

### **Homefront**

The hype for Homefront originated from it challenging another big-budget title, Call of Duty. THQ wanted to enter the lucrative shooter market and threw every penny they had at Homefront. The game’s red star and clumsy message was splattered across games magazines. To prevent the game from being delayed, Kaos Studios worked 7-day weeks for 60 days to get it finished. Despite this, THQ couldn’t deliver the game that was promised, suffering a 26% stock drop on release and Kaos Studios closed as a result.

The uneasy story about the Korean occupation of the US, written in part by John Milius, failed to help push the game forward.  The game offered a restricted single player experience and was criminally short, forcing the game to rely more on the age-old fallback of shooters, the multiplayer. Because of this, like with Medal of Honor, Homefront failed to be as unique and revolutionary as people were expecting it to be from the marketing. Above is the iconic Homefront logo with an image of game play on the right.

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### **Assasin's Creed : Unity**

Ubisoft is known for giving yearly launch of Assasins Creed. After the accomplishment of Black Flag, Ubisoft continued marketing their next game Assasins Creed: Unity. Unity's epic trailer and offer of online multiplayer missions surprised and stunned Ubisoft's audience making new expectations. But disappointing all the expectation, trying to hold their commitment, Ubisoft made an early buggy release and the game went for a toss. To recover, Ubisoft released many patches and ended up giving the game for free. This additionally affected the sales of its successor, for example, Assasins' Creed: Syndicate.

### Halo: The Master Chief Collection

The pre-hype and release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection will go down as one of the biggest let downs in video games of all time. Microsoft began hyping The Master Chief Collection many months in advance knowing that the community had been wanting an online version of Halo 2 (again) for many years. Microsoft ensured players they would get the exact same halo experience they knew and loved. However, when the game came out is was so buggy it was barley playable and the online matchmaking didn't work correctly for months following its release.