While November used to be the de-facto busy season, there are now two times of year that stand out: October to November and February to March. The release calendar has been changing gradually over the past decade, and this new trend of early-in-the-year big releases might become permanent. It’s not only the pandemic delays that pushed us to this chaos, though. Or in some cases, big franchise entries were released incomplete with chunks of the game being added months later. But 20 were different: There were still a lot of games released in the fall, but those tentpole releases largely got pushed out into the beginning of 2022. The Call of Duty franchise, which typically has a new game released annually, and the Assassin’s Creed franchise have long staked out the fall release window, nearly guaranteeing a successful holiday season. It made sense: Huge new titles would launch before the gift-giving season, when people typically have a bit more free time during a holiday vacation, and plenty more are spending money on gifts. Historically, it’s been the fall release window - leading up to the holidays - that’s been the most crowded with video game release dates. Why are so many big games willingly competing against one another? Is this the new normal? And is this healthy for an industry notoriously operating on tight deadlines? 22 indie games to look forward to in 2022
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