Should you buy video games on day one?

We are at the dawn of a new generation of consoles where the cards put on the table by the two main competitors Microsoft and Sony are being revealed at a pace slowed by the pandemic in progress. Among the various strategies undertaken by the two companies there is clearly a strong debate on the price of video games. On the one hand we have the Xbox ecosystem, which also includes the PC market, which focuses entirely on the Game Pass subscription service. On the other, Playstation continues to propose the same formula as the single games sold at full price, to which an additional cost of ten euros has been added. Today, however, we are not here to discuss the two directions taken by Sony and Microsoft, but we want to bring together the supporters of Xbox, Playstation and why not even those of Nintendo, to evaluate the purchase of video games at launch. In particular we want to try to understand if it is still worth buying games on day one, or is it better to wait a few more months?

The current market

How mentioned in the introduction, Microsoft has already partially resolved the issue, adding all its exclusives to the launch in the Game Pass completely free of charge. However, this does not exclude Xbox players from the topic covered in this article, because even a Microsoft platform owner who wants to buy a third-party title such as Call Of Duty, Assassin's Creed or Red Dead Redemption, is forced to pay full price at launch. .

This is therefore a rather generic topic, which can be discussed a little with all gamers, not only of "traditional" gaming machines, but also of the most innovative gaming services in the cloud. Surely among you there will be someone who bought Cybperunk 2077 at launch for example on Stadia, paying it at full price exactly like on other platforms. We are also experiencing, apart from the pandemic, a rather rich period of new videogame releases and the average player often struggles to keep up with the many pearls to play absolutely. Many complain of having a so-called "backlog" of video games to be recovered, which although they may be a few years old, are still fully enjoyable. So in 2021 is it really worth buying a video game on day one on any existing gaming platform?

The advantage of being first

Physical video game shelf in a specialized store

We will start with the advantages of buying video games at launch. For example, there are many users who like to buy their physical copy, paying the usual 70-80 euros. After completing the video game, they can immediately resell it either in a specialized shop, or directly online through the numerous flea markets and ad sites. In this way, 75% of the initial cost can often be easily obtained in order to invest it in other video games. This typically happens with titles that have a dominant single-player component, which once concluded can be abandoned more easily.

For example, a title belonging to this category is The Last Of Us Part 2 or the older but no less important God Of War. Both games can be completed with a good level of completion in about forty hours. For example, if you play two hours a day in less than a month, they can be archived and therefore resold to the second-hand market. A great way to save money and also be able to reinvest it in other video games. Speaking of video games with a strong singleplayer component and therefore in most cases also a rather important plot, buying on the day one simplifies your life by avoiding annoying spoilers on social media or on the web in general. If it's a popular title like The Last Of Us Part 2 just mentioned, rest assured that a lot of people will be going to play it right away, uploading videos and images to YouTube, Facebook and Instagram and in no time you will find yourself surrounded. from potential spoilers to avoid.

Let's move on to another advantage, always linked to physical copies and collecting. We are clearly talking about the famous Limited Edition of the various video games, available at launch at a higher price than the "basic" copies. If you are a lover of these special editions, with all the advantages represented by their extras, we clearly recommend that you buy them as soon as possible. Over time, especially for the most prestigious editions, the price increases. If you want to recover some rare Limited Edition from past years, you will probably have to spend a lot more money than its initial cost and it will be difficult to find it used online.



Assassin's Creed Valhalla Limited Edition

Video games with a dominant multiplayer component, such as Call Of Duty, FIFA Ultimate Team, Destiny 2 or the more recent Outriders offer a real advantage to the so-called early adopters. Developers typically schedule specific content to be available week after week after launch. So if you buy the new Outriders after a few months, you may lose some content available exclusively in the first weeks, such as new weapons, skins and other game items. The same goes for FIFA Ultimate Team, where you go to face a sort of online football season with various fixed events such as the choice of the team of the year and weekly updates on the fittest players. Call Of Duty also introduced a Seasons system with the associated "Battle Pass" service. So if you buy the game a few months later, you will miss out on numerous contents included for free in the first season released at launch.

I prefer to wait

Screenshot of the fabulous RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Nobody forces you to buy a video game at launch and often this could be a real deal for you. There are in fact numerous advantages in the postponed purchase of a video game and now we are going to analyze the most important ones. Waiting a few months (and why not, even a few years) leads to a significant decrease in the price of a particular video game. After 8-9 months from the launch, you can easily find a title at half price compared to the initial cost. Waiting for some dedicated offer or buying it used online, you might find it even cheaper.

For example, nowadays it is possible to find an excellent game like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in its full version with all the additional contents at a price of around ten euros. It is in fact an old video game, in fact it won the "Game Of The Year" in the now distant 2015, but it still remains a more than enjoyable game and a fantastic experience for all lovers of role-playing games. In addition to suffering a sharp drop in price, video games typically improve over time. Month after month the developers continue to release new updates and corrective patches to fix bugs present at launch. Playing the updated version of the aforementioned The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt today will undoubtedly offer you a smoother and cleaner experience than that available on day one. In addition, in the game you will already find all subsequent additions such as free DLCs, extra additional content and maybe some other gems not present in the original version. Modern titles, especially those of a certain level, hardly age badly, in fact they often improve further with the years.





Let's take God Of War for example for Playstation 4, another title released three years ago. Nowadays, not only can it often be found for a few tens of euros, but it was also included for free in the Playstation Plus Collection on the new Sony console. This means that every Playstation 5 owner can play it for free, enjoying every patch and fix brought in over the last few years. Furthermore, by harnessing the power of Playstation 5, the game manages to guarantee significantly better performance than its original form. Another striking example of a game experience that has substantially improved over time. Even The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt itself will receive a corrective patch for the new generation consoles by 2021, undoubtedly bringing new life to the title which will be able to enjoy a second youth years after its release. Staying at CD Projekt RED, the much talked about and criticized Cyberpunk 2077 in a few years will probably be a completely different game. The developers are looking to improve and expand it with future free content. Those who decide to buy it in the future will undoubtedly enjoy a better experience than that experienced by users at launch.



The Magnamalo, a monster from Monster Hunter Rise

Finally we want to mention the evolution of the community of a particular video game. Turning to Nintendo titles, let's take the recent Monster Hunter Rise into consideration. Week after week the community of passionate gamers of this brand is expanding, sharing on the web new knowledge, techniques for hunting monsters and other specific information on skills and builds to use with our character. Postponing the purchase of the video game for a few months will undoubtedly make you enjoy all these benefits offered by the community, having much more information and advice available to take inspiration from to play. Obviously it is possible to enjoy the experience offered by the title even without interacting with other players online, but a comparison often leads to the discovery of many hidden gems. The same example could be done on a video game from the Souls series by From Software. At launch, many mysterious objects, particular build constructions, hidden rooms and other more difficult game elements turn out to be a real mystery for players. Of course, it's nice to be able to discover them together with the community and share your knowledge online. For those who do not have too much time to devote to these things, being able to find a complete Wiki with all the information can be of great help. For example, finishing Dark Souls 3 without any outside help and then jumping on the web and experimenting with the many builds created by players over the years can be really a lot of fun.

The choice is yours

The Xbox ecosystem with the Game Pass

So there are both advantages and disadvantages to buying a video game at launch. The market is changing course slightly with Microsoft's move to include their exclusives at launch in the Game Pass. However, there are still many video games available at full price on day one and the sales figures show that there is actually a good slice of users interested in their purchase at launch. Then there are the gamers completely submerged by the infinite backlog to be recovered who find in the weekly offers real pearls of the past at truly ridiculous prices. There is therefore no rule or advice that we can give you about buying games. Everyone chooses according to their preferences, the time to devote to this media and the type of video games they decide to play.

What do you prefer to do? Are you an early adopter who buys everything on day one? Or would you rather wait to find the games at a lower price, already corrected and improved by the patches released? Let us know below in the comments!



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