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Do you consider this time period a gaming drought?

Not just with major or interesting releases, it seems like all gaming news has come to a halt. Nothing from any of the big 3 and the typical podcast/youtube stuff i listen to seems to be scrounging for scrap headlines like square enix president talking about NFT again.

I’ve heard of people refer to this also as ‘backlog season’.

Are we currently in for a long gaming drought or is there plenty of interesting things coming out that people are ignoring?
 
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There is always something new to play, either on the way or something missed from years past.

I could live to be 200 years old and play video games 8 hours a day 365 days a year and not be able to play half of the decent games currently available. Every year more games release than I'll ever have time to play and I actually have a lot of time for the hobby.
 

Markio128

Member
It’s probably the calm before the storm. Gaming wise, I’m full to bursting, but news wise, it has been a bit quiet.
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
Huh? In the last 2 months I played Horizon, Elden Ring, Kirby and Lego Star Wars. These are all relatively high profile releases. I suppose things fall off a cliff until fall, but there should be a lot of gaming news in June to fill the E3 gap.

Personally I tend to tone it down on gaming when the weather improves.
 

ChiefDada

Gold Member
Not necessarily, imo. There has been a fair amount of great games, but I am extremely frustrated with the delayed transition to current-gen only titles. I haven't been this excited about a console generation since PS2/Xbox so the lack of games is annoying.
 
Not just with major or interesting releases, it seems like all gaming news has come to a halt. Nothing from any of the big 3 and the typical podcast/youtube stuff i listen to seems to be scrounging for scrap headlines like square enix president talking about NFT again.

I’ve heard of people refer to this also as ‘backlog season’.

Are we currently in for a long gaming drought or is there plenty of interesting things coming out that people are ignoring?

Yeah, I think covid has pushed back several games and also reduced the quality of several games.

I think fans complaining about crunch hasn't helped either.
 
News wise sort of? A lot of it seems to be acquisitions-focused, which is getting boring tbh.

Games absolutely not. it's only April and I've played Elden Ring, Horizon, Tiny Tina's Wonderland and Dying Light 2. Currently playing Witch Queen and Lego Star Wars now.

May - July is looking shit though. Hope God of War gets that surprise release date
 
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GHG

Member
Still making my way through Elden Ring (will also do a NG+ run for sure), playing GT7 on and off in between and after that I still have Forbidden West and Sifu to return to. After that I'll probably give Weird West a try.

So no, and even if it were I have plenty in my backlog that I'll be more than happy to dig in to.
 

schaft0620

Member
It is only a drought for people who are starving for news and weekly AAA releases. It has been one of the craziest times in video games history, its totally fine for a brief cooldown and to catch up on the backlog. GT7 should have launched in May. Moss II should have launched with PS VR2.

It should end soon. I have PAX apts for unannounced games, PAX is this weekend. Sony will probably do a PS VR2 thing before the big news season which is just around the corner. Plus Sony is not done buying stuff.
 
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Dr Bass

Member
Just finished Horizon FW. Might pick up GT7. Returnal just got a great expansion. Mario Kart 8 just got 8 new tracks with 40 more still coming over the next year and a half. Elden Ring will probably last me until Starfield.

If this is a drought I don't know what a flood would be like.
 
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Stamps1646

Member
This year is packed with so much content for me personally.

Playing:

Monster Hunter Rise PC* (paused, waiting for Sunbreak exp)
Pokémon Legends: Arceus (still playing)
Dying Light 2: Stay Human (still playing)
Fallout:76 (still playing)
B.I.O.T.A. (just started)
======
Finished:
Horizon: Forbidden West (finished)
Elden Ring (finished)
Tunic (finished)
=======
Backlog:
Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons Exp.
Kirby's Forgotten Land
Rogue Legacy 2 (pre-ordered)
The Iron Oath (pre-ordered)
Coral Island (backer)
======
Coming Soon:
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (waiting for Steam release this year)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Open Roads
Somerville
REPLACED
The Invincible
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
Cult of the Lamb
Souldiers
Capcom Fighting Collection
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
Trek to Yomi
Saints Row
Ark II
The DioField Chronicle
Hogwarts: Legacy
Gotham Knights
Starfield
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Steelrising
Stray
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt + Exps, Next-gen update (hopeful it makes the 2022 window)
 
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We just had the best game ever made release a month and a half ago.

Sony has released several AAA first-party games already this year that all scored well and it's just April (Horizon Forbidden West, The Show, Gran Turismo 7).

Nintendo has had some good Switch games release already with several more slated for 2022.

Even Xbox had Tunic, which performed well.
 

Pantz

Member
February and March had a ton of big games come out. April and on the near horizon is pretty lite, for now.
Gaming news pretty lite as well. I could really go for any kind of games showcase.
 

Celcius

°Temp. member
Yep we’re to the annual drought now, but fortunately GT7 and other recent releases are still fun, and I have a backlog at the moment too
 
For me yes as the games I intended to get failed to deliver last year so I didn't buy them leaving my ps5 lifeless for quite some time. So far the only game of interest this year has been Horizon Forbidden West. I only intend on getting Hogwarts Legacy, Stray and God of War Ragnarok this year unless something catches my interest.
 
I think we are about to enter sort of a drought now unless there are a lot of unannounced or games that I'm not remembering that that will release in the second half of the year (something that would be very unusual).

God of War: Ragnarok still doesn't have a release date and very little was shown about Starfield, so I think both could end up being delayed.

So far it has been a really strong year.
 
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Not really, I use the Spring/Early summer to clean out my backlog and even run some retro games I really wanted to play. People get so hype for new releases that they forget to give themselves time to play lol

If youre caught up tho then I totally understand
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I mean, it really depends on what you're into. Around this time every year there isn't a lot of "new" to play, because we're kind of in the middle of everything.

For me, it hasn't been a "drought" per se, but there definitely haven't been a ton of titles that I was SUPER excited about. But it happens! This has just gone on for me over the past few years.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Gaming now doesn’t seem like a drought it won’t be long before the AAA games come.
 

Fbh

Member
It kinda makes sense to me though.
We just had a crazy start to the year with an onslaught of high profile releases, seems smart to give things a bit of breathing room and let people who don't play for 40hrs a week play through some of these games and then start up the hype machine again.
 

rolandss

Member
I have no idea what’s coming out for the rest of the year but I have GT7 and Horizon to get through. GT7 is a stayer too, that’ll be a staple of my gaming diet for the next few years until there’s a GT8, I imagine.
 

TwiztidElf

Member
It's not unusual for me to clear my backlog.

What is unusual for me is no dated games to buy in the immediate future.
Just Soul Hackers 2 in August.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
I think 2022 is quickly losing the ability to be a GOAT year with all the delays, but we're still getting some quality games. Pokémon actually upped their game for once, Elden Ring is huge, Tunic, Kirby, Horizon, yadda yadda. It's not horrible.
 

Bragr

Banned
I feel like I have played games on an industrious scale for the last 2-3 months.

More than enough games in the first 3 months of 2022 to last a good while. I hope we don't see too much until June-ish, so I can catch up on everything.
 

Arthimura

Member
Honestly february and march were pretty busy. Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, GhostWire: Tokyo, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins, Kirby and the Forgotten Land...

It will take me a while to finish all these games.

But yeah, I believe we are not going to see many releases until September and October.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Depending on what you own, a gaming drought is only as bad as allow it to be.

Go through your PS+ games or Game Pass. There's gotta be something on there that will hook you.
 

Jennings

Member
Not the least little bit. Not one iota of drought here. I play a lot but my AAA backlog is still insane, and at this rate 2023 will only add to it before I get half way through it.
 

badblue

Member
Can't have a drought if you have a large back log.

Think About It Reaction GIF by Identity
 

Pantz

Member


Samurai Bringer coming out on 21st.
Looks like it could be cool. Might get if it has good impressions.
 
For news sure, for games no. At least not for me. As someone who buys games on sale (steam, gog, eshop, psn) I got tons of games. Count in retro from NES to current Gen and it's 1000s of games. There is just not enough time to play a fraction of it.

Right now working on demon souls, no man's sky (ps5), edf5 and need to go back to elden ring on pc (getting the ps5 in late March really messed that playthrough up).
 

Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Didnt the "greatest game of all time" come out like a few weeks ago.
Hasnt a legend returned to form in Gran Turismo 7.
Just looking at the last few:
Skywalker Saga
Triangle Strategy
MLB 22
Shredders
Stranger of Paradise
The Ascent - PS5 players buy this game its so worth it.
Kirby
Ghostwire Tokyo

Unless a drought is defined by a flood of games....then nah this aint no drought.
 

Verchod

Member
Depends what you like. I've not bought anything for ages as there's nothing new I'm interested in, been that way for few years.
 

Werewolf Jones

Gold Member
Must be sad to only want new products and not go backwards.

There's stuff in the pipeline coming. News is a bit slim right now but until it hits go pick up some older games.
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
This is the biggest my backlog has EVER been and there's still more games I need to buy
 

Batiman

Banned
Ya there’s been some great games recently. (Elden ring) etc. But gaming news seems to be super slow or boring for a while. It’s making me come to GAF a lot less frequently. At least gaming side. I pop in to see if there’s any interesting news and there never seems to be anything exciting anymore. When people are fighting over the graphics of Lego games then you know gaming news has been slow
 
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