Help with an assignment

[Ninja-Jordan]

I'm a journalism student with a new assignment about the fall equinox. I came upon the realization that a lot of triple-A games usually come out around this time. The catch? I need to interview someone for the article. Is there anyone in the game industry that can shed some light on why bigger name games come out around Q-3?

 

[RipRoaringWaterfowl]

I'm not in the industry, at least yet, but the thing about fall is that it's the run up to the holiday season. Releasing in the fall means that these games could easily end up on wishlists, and have a lot of copies sold in a month/two months. Releasing in late October probably guaruntees big sales until January as long as:

a) Is a good game,

and/or,

b) Is a popular game.

More for B, though.

 

[Lucem712]

Well, I'm not in the industry though you could interview me. I'd imagine (with absolutely nothing but a slightly educated guess) would be it's the holidays, of course. Plus, it's a widely celebrated holiday that passes over many nationalities. Consoles (see Wii-U) tend to come out around this time, too.

Lesser known games or games that need more space to breathe because they can't compete with the giants are pushed into Q1 (e.g Heavy Rain) and then you have the assortment of games that linger into the summer months.

 

[DoPo]

Easy - Christmas. And there are other holidays in the USA but Christmas/New Year is worldwide. It's when most people spend more money and also, since it's (usually) winter, people spend more time inside.

 

[Esotera]

It's absolutely to do with Christmas, people start buying around this time. Also, if the project gets delayed by a few weeks it's not as catastrophic as they can still kick the game out of the door before all the parents have bought presents...

 

[Ninja-Jordan]

Thanks mates, I talked to a pal who works at EB games and he said the same thing. I sort of new that, but I was wondering if there was anything deeper. Thanks for all the help