That may be true from your standpoint, but if a publisher starts thinking a game is going to bomb, what difference does it make WHEN they release it?
If they realize it's going to bomb regardless, then they made a big mistake a long time ago when they first handed the Dev's the contract, either the Dev's didn't have the talent to pull it off, or the game was just never a good idea to begin with, regardless, this should have been considdered before the thing got green-lighted, not after..
But if you are standing there with a potential hit on your hands, and all it needs to get there is 2 more months of polish, then i don't see how it's in the Publishers interest to flush it down the drain by releasing it too early, the Publisher and it's shareholders should be just as interested in seeing the game sell well as the Dev's are, it's money in all of their pockets, it's better reviews, more copies sold on release day, and more copies that continue to sell long after it's initial release.
It is also future proofing, what does the publisher gain from sinking what could have been a lucrative franchise, just because the game ran a bit late? or sinking good development houses, who the customers will now shun because of some terrible rushed releases, all because they ran a little late? an early release can really rape what could have been a great thing for all parties involved.
And again, there's the question of the industry as a whole, if the big publishers make a habit of snubbing big releases in this way, then the consumers will eventually wise up to it, and stop buying their games at full price on release day, or not buy them at all, perhabs even pirate them, how exactly will that be good for their buisness?
That's allready happening mind you, a lot of people like myself have stopped buying anything coming from big publishers on release day, we wait for the user reviews to start hitting the net, and often for the prices to go down unless the game gets all happy smiles from anyone who's played it (and it seems our numbers are growing, atleast that's the impression i get), and others, well, they cite this as the main reason why they pirate games, that they want to see if the thing will even run on their box or be worth anything before they put down any cash, take that for what you will.
I just don't see how it makes any buisness sense to **** out a lump of coal that nobody wants, just out of principle because an agreed upon deadline was not met, when they could have released a gold-bar that would have netted everyone involved a lot more money, just by beeing a little more flexible and letting the Dev's apply the needed last minute polish.
I do see how they can be forced to cut their losses if they have a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. on their hands, and it's obvious the bloody thing will never get released if the Dev's get their way.. yeah, that i can understand, but that's usually not the case.
