Why is it that Americans get an unfair advantage with earlier game release dates?

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that Americans get given an
unfair advantage in a lot of multi-player games, due to the fact that they nearly always have games released to them a few days (sometimes as much as a week) earlier than the rest of the world?

Now, I can understand how this problem can arise when dealing with the logistics of shipping
physical game products around the world and when the developer of said game is based in America. But I cannot understand or get my head around the problem of different release dates for games, when the are bought and downloaded as digital copies from
the Online Xbox Marketplace, especially when a game is available for Pre-order there.



To help you better grasp why this upsets me so much, let me give you an example of what has been occurring lately because of this situation...

Last week I pre-ordered Dirt 4, a game I have been eagerly awaiting the release of for ages. I purchased it from the UK version of the Xbox Marketplace, because my console directs me there by default, as the UK is where I live and the release
date for the game there is tomorrow, Friday 9th June, 2017. So you can imagine my surprise, when I started to see
Dirt 4 game clips and screenshots showing up on my Xbox News Feed on
Monday 5th June, 2017.

"OMG!!! Could I have been mistaken about the release date of this game" I thought to myself quizzingly.

"Could CodeMasters, the developers of the Dirt game franchise have decided to release this game to the world earlier then planned?" Vague memories of this happening with 1 or 2 other games in the distant past tried forming
in my head, but I couldn't remember their names.

My excitement was building fast and my fingers and thumbs were working at a quicker pace to navigate me to my console's 'My Games' section, which is where my
pre-ordered copy of Dirt 4 was downloaded and saved. Once there, I spotted the Dirt 4 game icon and clicked on it and my excitement quickly turned to despair as a message appeared across my screen that told me my game was still awaiting the
release date and that I had to wait until then.

Bugger!!!



I was gutted and confused, so I backtracked to my News Feed to see if I had missed something, only to see a disturbing pattern emerge in front of my eyes. All of the
Dirt 4 gameclips and screenshots there, had been posted
ONLY by my American friends and a few other people and clubs I follow that are based in America also.

After a few messages back and forth it was confirmed to me, that the Dirt 4 game had indeed been released in America on Monday and I've now got to wait until Friday until I can participate.
Now that SUCKS!!!

The Americans have been given a head-start yet again, another unfair advantage over the rest of us. Tomorrow when us lot finally get into a
Dirt 4 multi-player lobby, all of the Americans there will claim to be better racers than the rest of us, but just remember this... They would have had 4 more days than us to practice on all of the race tracks, they would have been able to
unlock better cars than we'll have and also earned loads of race credits/money to fit their cars with more powerful engines, better brakes, suspension, tyres and body kits. Their early victories will be short lived, once we catch up and they'll then have to
eat their words.

It's the same story with games of the Shooter genre, which I also like and play... The Americans get a week head-start on the rest of us and by the time we get to enter the battlefield, they are level 30, have unlocked more
and better weapons than anyone else, like Sniper Rifles, LMGs, SMGs, Grenades, etc., pimped out their soldiers with many upgrades, perks and skills and when we turn up just
Level 1, with nothing more than a Pistol and a knife, they say we can't fight.

So, speaking on behalf of everyone in the world who doesn't live in America... I call on
Microsoft and all of the game developers to
do the right thing and to level the playing field for all and stop these absurd and outdated
Tiered Game Release Dates which always favour our friends in the USA.



Thanks for letting me get this of of my chest, but it needed to be said...

:)

 

game release dates

im not exactly sure how to put this so ill just say it as best i can

why is it when games are released (not all games but most of them) that americans seem to get them one week or even two weeks before the rest of the planet?? now before anyone says it works just on the same principal as film releases or something similar
to that ill just stop you by pointing out that you cant play films as online multiplayers and build up characters etc... and before someone says just because its available doesnt mean everyone buys the game, i will say what is the point in different release
dates if everyones just going to buy a game whenever they can anyways.

i find this to be very unfair and it is deliberately giving a specific group of people an unfair advantage over players of any other region, good examples would be just about any call of duty or forza game (cant believe i used COD as an example considering
its away down the toilet anyways)

are players of that region considered soo bad that its deemed they need a "head start" or something??

just as a precaution before anyone points out the obvious.... YES it does annoy me, im sick of buying certain games on release and going to play them online only to be kicked up and down a map by some american dude that was able to buy it 2 weeks before
me and have all sorts of advantages in game like perks, weapons, knowledge of maps etc.

what im looking to find out is why they even bother with different release dates and also peoples personal opinions on the subject.

 

Anyone manage to Get Watch Dogs Yet

The trouble with International Releases is that the US releases it's games on a Tuesday. The UK release their games on a Friday.

I once saw an absolutely brilliant article on how and why that happens but I have no way of linking you to that unless someone else remembers where it is.

So normally the US get their games 3 days before the Brits.

However when you get a big "International Release" most Publishers tend to have that international release coincide with the American Release date.

This causes a problem for Online Retailers in the UK who have to get the game to people on a Tuesday in a country where mail is not generally delivered on a Sunday.

So to honour their promise of "you get it on release date" they send them off Friday or sometimes earlier.

It's not such a big deal though. It will be Tuesday for you soon enough.

 

Usually the reason behind this is the "bigger" market share of US. I do live in the UK too, and nowdays I'm not even suprised by stuff like that.

The bigger problem is the conversion rates though.