The Consequences of “Ship Now, Fix Later” on Player Trust and Game Quality

In 2024, the video game industry hit a staggering $282 billion in revenue, yet this growth isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. An increasing dependency on rolling out incomplete games that lean heavily on post-launch patches to meet even the most basic standards is casting a shadow over the industry’s success. This "ship now, fix later" approach, largely driven by unyielding corporate deadlines and a focus on live-service strategies, is doing a number on player trust and upending development priorities.

Broken Launches and Financial Fallout

Take a look at big-name flops like "Cyberpunk 2077" and "Battlefield 2042." Both games are textbook examples of this concerning trend. "Cyberpunk 2077" needed a massive 43 GB day-one patch, yet still stumbled into lawsuits and was even pulled from the PlayStation Store because of devastating bugs on consoles. Then there’s "Battlefield 2042," which hit the market glaringly short of essential features like voice chat, resulting in a sharp 75% drop in Steam players in just three months.

The rush to release is often driven by rigid financial targets. Consider Ubisoft’s "XDefiant," which was put to rest in 2025 after failing to hold onto its player base, leading to 277 jobs being cut. These blunders don’t just hurt finances; they damage reputations, too. According to a 2022 PCMag survey, a hefty 68% of gamers now prefer to wait several months after a game’s launch before buying, illustrating the shaken trust.

iGaming’s Update-Driven Ecosystem

In the iGaming world, there’s a similar reliance on constant updates, but not just for patching up messes. For online casinos, such as Sia Casinos, updates are crucial for keeping players engaged by rolling out new offers and premium slot experiences.

These platforms use AI-driven tools to personalize bonuses, introduce new game variants, and set up tournaments in real-time. Unlike the video game scenario, these updates in the iGaming space are proactive, designed to enhance player experiences rather than just fix issues.

The Live-Service Shift

The games-as-a-service (GaaS) model has made continuous updates a norm. With games like "Fortnite" and "Apex Legends" dedicating a large chunk—around 60-70%—of their post-launch efforts to seasonal updates, studios are now prioritizing long-term revenue over well-polished initial releases. While this works wonders for big franchises—like Capcom’s "Monster Hunter World," which grew its player base by 72% thanks to free updates like "Iceborne"—it can spell disaster for smaller studios. For every "Genshin Impact" raking in $3.7 billion in 2023 through steady updates, numerous live-service games struggle and often fold within a year due to unsustainable development costs.

Player Trust in Decline and How It Can Be Rebuilt

The dependency on post-launch fixes has eroded the trust of many players. That 2022 survey from PCMag revealed 68% of gamers prefer to hold off until reviews or significant updates roll in before they make a purchase, up from 45% in 2018. This cautious approach comes from repeated disappointments when games launch broken. Additionally, those increasingly hefty day-one patches, often more than 50 GB, are a major headache for players facing limited storage or slower internet connections.

The "ship now, fix later" mindset is frequently a result of corporate pressure to hit those quarterly financial targets. Some studios, like Nintendo, take a different tack. They opted to delay titles like "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" to ensure launch-day quality. For developers to win back player trust and step up game quality, they need to prioritize a polished launch and use subsequent updates to enhance rather than repair.

With the global gaming market expected to grow from $262 billion in 2023 to a whopping $312 billion by 2027, there’s a chance for studios to align their strategies with what players truly expect and want. Achieving this balance will be key to thriving in the long haul.