How “Ship Now, Fix Later” Affects Player Trust and Game Quality

In 2024, the video game industry hit a staggering $282 billion in revenue. However, this impressive growth was somewhat overshadowed by a troubling trend: the increasing habit of releasing unfinished games, leaning heavily on post-launch patches to bring them up to par. This model of “ship now, fix later,” propelled by strict corporate schedules and the ambitions of live-service gaming, has started to chip away at player trust and shift the focus of development teams.

### Broken Launches and Financial Fallout

A couple of prominent examples of this trend are Cyberpunk 2077 and Battlefield 2042. When Cyberpunk launched in 2020, it needed a hefty 43 GB patch on day one, yet still ended up facing lawsuits and being removed from the PlayStation Store because of severe bugs on consoles. Similarly, Battlefield 2042, which rolled out in 2021, missed essential features like voice chat, causing its player count on Steam to plummet by 75% within just three months.

The pressure to meet strict financial targets often pushes developers into these hasty launches. Take Ubisoft’s XDefiant, which was pulled from the market by June 2025, leading to 277 layoffs due to its inability to hold onto players. Errors like these are costly, not just financially but reputationally too. According to a PCMag survey from 2022, 68% of gamers now prefer to wait several months before buying newly launched titles, rather than risking an immediate purchase.

### iGaming’s Update-Driven Ecosystem

In the world of iGaming, frequent updates are key too, though the purpose differs: it’s mainly about keeping players engaged rather than performing damage control. These updates play a crucial role for online casinos, including platforms like SIA Casinos, by offering new promotions and premium slot features.

Employing AI-driven tools for personalization, online casinos and sportsbooks can adjust bonuses, game variants, and tournament offerings in real time to optimize player experiences. Unlike video games that need updates to mend issues, the goal here is to enhance what’s already working well.

### The Live-Service Shift

The surge of games-as-a-service (GaaS) has brought continuous updates into the norm. Games like Fortnite and Apex Legends now funnel around 60–70% of their post-launch content into seasonal offerings, which encourages developers to focus more on long-term revenue streams than on perfect launches. While franchises like Capcom’s Monster Hunter World have successfully grown their player bases by 72% through updates like Iceborne, smaller studios often can’t keep up. For example, Genshin Impact garnered a whopping $3.7 billion in 2023 by staying consistent, yet countless other live-service games don’t last beyond a year due to prohibitive development costs.

### Trust Erosion and Restoration

Repeatedly leaning on post-launch fixes has undeniably undermined player trust. According to PCMag’s 2022 survey, a significant 68% of gamers prefer to wait for reviews or major updates before investing in new titles, up from 45% in 2018. Frustrations over enormous day-one patches, frequently surpassing 50 GB, also add to gamers’ grievances, particularly affecting those with limited storage or slower internet speeds.

This “ship now, fix later” mindset often results from pressure to satisfy quarterly financial goals. Companies like Nintendo, however, are setting a different benchmark by prioritizing quality. For instance, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was delayed until 2023 to ensure a pristine launch. Rebuilding trust and enhancing game quality requires developers to place more emphasis on delivering polished experiences from the get-go and leveraging updates for enhancements rather than repairs.

With the global gaming market on track to grow from $262 billion in 2023 to $312 billion by 2027, there’s a massive opportunity for studios to realign their strategies with what players truly expect. Achieving this balance could be the lynchpin for enduring success in the industry.